


Don't Like Anyone Better Than You

by Sustrai



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Crime AU, Drabble Collection, Drabbles, Fluff, Individual chapter tags and warnings inside, M/M, One Shot Collection, So many AUs, Summer Camp AU, coffee shop AU, online friends au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-05-12 07:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 21,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5657620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sustrai/pseuds/Sustrai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of mostly unrelated oneshots. Individual chapter warnings inside.</p><p> </p><p>~ Earlier prompts are being re-written ~</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Imagine person A making a mixtape of love songs for person B. Person B dies and while person A is clearing out their things they find the mixtape. What happens next is up to you.
> 
> Chapter tags: Dead character, drabble.

~*~

His coat still smells like him, Hinata notes with a wry smile.  
He holds the fabric closer to himself and inhales the scent. He’s missed it; it’s been too long since he smelt it.  
Fingers trembling, he tucks the coat away into the nearby box, simply labeled ‘Komaeda’.

Next, Hinata tugs out his old c.d’s. He flicks through them, laughing softly and reminiscing.  
He sees a familiar disc with his own handwriting scrawled across it.  
Hinata especially remembers this disc. Because he made it.  
He puts the disc on, and the lyrics fill the air in time with the tears that fill his eyes.

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJOvC3ISVdI
> 
> This was totally the song playing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Imagine person A staring glumly out the window as the rain is pouring down, beating on the roof, so to cheer them up, person B grabs them, drags them outside, and they start dancing together.
> 
> Chapter tags: Despair universe, pre-sdr2, Komaeda is a geek

~*~

Izuru is glaring out the window, tapping his fingers in time to the rain hitting the roof.

Komaeda watches him from the living room couch with an amused expression. He debates saying something, distracting Izuru from his listlessness. He laughs softly instead and picks up a book while kicking his feet up onto the coffee table.

It’s not their living room. Neither has ever seen this house before. Komaeda hasn’t read this book, nor does he intend to at any point in his life.

He opens to a random page and pretends to read.  
When he looks up again, Izuru is still staring out the window.

“Is there a problem, Izuru-kun?”  
Komaeda doesn’t get a response, but he didn’t expect one. So he pulls himself off the couch and strides over to Izuru. He grips his wrist and tugs him to the door, cheerfully telling the other boy to come with him. Izuru’s face doesn’t change, but Komaeda likes to think that, for a moment, his eyes flashed with bewilderment.  
He pulls him outside into the pouring rain, and the pair stare at each other.

“…Was there a purpose to this?” Izuru questions flatly. If the droplets irritate him, he doesn’t show it.  
Komaeda proudly flings his arms out to his sides and tilts his head back, smiling as he feels the raindrops trickle down his cheeks. “Nope!”

Izuru stands with his arms crossed and watches blankly as Komaeda twirls his body in a gyre, giggling as he goes. He starts to stumble once he’s dizzy and finally stops, consumed in laughter. Izuru raises an eyebrow and starts to turn away before Komaeda seizes his wrist again.  
He threads their fingers together and slips his other hand around the other boy’s waist. He leans down to Izuru’s ear, and times like these he’s grateful that he’s a little taller.  
“Would you care to dance, Izuru-kun?” he whispers down.

Neither knows how to dance properly, so they settle for rotating slowly. Komaeda grins the whole time, and even though the rain is cold his face is warm. He splashes in puddles, getting his trouser legs damp, while the other boy watches: possibly dumbfounded, possibly frustrated.

Eventually the rain chills him too much, and he begins to shiver noticeably. Izuru releases Komaeda. He goes back inside without a word, and Komaeda is alone.

He dances alone in the rain.

 

~*~


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: I saw someone’s headcanon that after Komaeda passes away Hinata leaves a bunch of flowers and a love letter on his grave every anniversary and I really loved the idea of it.  
> 

Nagito.  
It’s been four years now.   
Is it appropriate to ask how you’re doing? Even if your ghost reads this it isn’t as if you could reply.  
But I’ll ask you anyway—how is heaven?

I miss you more and more with each passing day. Did you know that? No-one can replace you.  
The left side of the bed is still yours. I don’t sleep there. Maybe it still smells a little like you, or maybe I’m just imagining things.  
I still haven’t touched any of your things, except that tattered jacket. I wear it sometimes. I hope you don’t mind.

I miss your hair. I miss the way it would move in the breeze, I miss the annoying way it would go into my mouth while we were in bed together, I miss finding strands of it in the oddest places.

I miss your voice. You thought it was too quiet, too effeminate, but I loved how airy and soft it was. I loved the gentle rasp it had.  
I loved the passionate tone you had when you rambled about luck and later, about how much you loved me. Even if I did tell you shut up far too often.

I hate writing ‘had’.

I wish you were still here.

I don’t want to ask a pointless question like ‘why did you die?’ because I know why already. You’d already outlived your life expectancy, and at some point, we realized that every day where you woke up breathing was a blessing, another occasion of cheating death.  
I remember the morning where I woke up and you were gone. We both knew it was coming, and you always reminded me that you loved me before falling asleep. I still panicked. I couldn’t do anything but scream for Mikan, scream for anyone. But no one could have done anything.

You were cold, peaceful and beautiful.

I wish now that I had kissed you one last time.

I hope you don’t mind that I’m still living. I’m too selfish and scared to join you, but we’ll see each other again one day.

The others miss you too. They all care, some less than others, but they all come to visit you every year too. They come as a group. Would you have believed that if I told you?  
Maybe they’ll see my letter and the flowers.

Before I go.  
I still love you. It hurts, but I love you.  
There will never be anyone else for me.  
You were so beautiful.  
I’ll see you again next year.

I love you.  
Hajime.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Imagine your OTP is in an acting class together. To learn the importance of the delivery of lines, they are paired up to say ‘I love you’ in the most meaningful way they can in front of the class.
> 
> Chapter tags: Theatre kid a.u, non-despair a.u, fluffy awkwardness.

~*~

Drama was Komaeda’s best subject. It was his element- all eyes were on him, and he had the chance to be someone other than his usual plain, boring self.

He felt purpose when he entered the theatre room. He waved to his director (who was really just a teacher, but insisted he was referred to as ‘director’ during drama class) and perched on the edge of the wooden stage, swinging his legs as he waited for the rest of his class to arrive.

Once everyone had trailed in a taken their positions, the director broke their chattering with a loud clap. “Today, we’re working on the importance of delivery! An example: I didn’t say I stole her bike. Pick a partner and repeat that phrase back and forth to each other, putting particular emphasis on a different word each time. Again: I didn’t say I stole her bike.”

The class quickly broke off into their usual pairs, and Komaeda was left with Hinata, as usual. 

“Hello!” Komaeda sang out his greeting. Hinata said it back, and they got to work on the assigned lines.

“I didn’t say I stole HER bike!” Hinata rattled off, shouting the emphasized word. Komaeda tried not to laugh and decided to try giving him some tips.   
“Ah, Hinata-- If you don’t mind advice? Perhaps you could try emphasizing the word more with your tone and pitch, or the pace, rather than your volume?”  
Komaeda demonstrated it, slowing the delivery of the word ‘her’ and dropping his pitch. His volume remained even throughout.

Hinata thanked him, looking down. Komaeda thought he might even have pouted a little, and thought it was a little cute.  
Hinata tried delivering the lines again, this time focusing on ‘bike’. He shifted his tone on the word, and Komaeda noted with satisfaction that it was an improvement.

When the teac-- director asked for volunteers, Komaeda shot up his hand and tugged Hinata up to the stage with him. 

“A new set of words for the demonstration, ok? Would you pair mind working on the ways of delivering ‘I love you’?”

Komaeda shook his head while Hinata shrugged and wrinkled his nose. Komaeda pretended not to notice how awkward his partner looked.

Komaeda turned to face Hinata, putting his hand on the shorter boys shoulder. “I, I love you!” Komaeda gasped out, delivering the lines as melodramatically as he could.   
“I…love you…” Hinata mumbled back. The director clapped and praised his characterization of a quieter, shyer personality. The rest of the class giggled behind their hands or whispered to their partner.

Hinata was in no way shy, usually. While his acting skills had room for improvement, he was normally confident and self-assured while on the stage.

Komaeda tried not to laugh at him before getting down on one knee and miming pulling out a ring.  
“I love you, Hinata.” He said with a smirk.

Hinata couldn’t get off the stage any faster.

~*~


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Imagine your OTP in a room with a bunch of friends. Person A is doing something that goes wrong and in frustration they end up shouting, “Just kick my ass!” Person B says casually, without thinking, “I’d rather eat it.”

~*~

There was no way this project was going to be finished in time.

Hinata flops forward, exhaling loudly. “Throw me the Doritos, Chiaki.” He huffs.  
Chiaki tosses the bag through the air, her face caught somewhere between frustration and apathy. 

“H-how many more slides do we need…?” Mikan asks.  
Hinata turns to her, and his expression must have been sharp enough to shatter a diamond because she immediately flinches away and covers her face with her hands. He hears her mutter a mantra of apologies to herself and groans.  
“Eight more, at the very least.” Komaeda offers to her from his corner.  
Hinata makes a low growling noise, sounding something like a demon being wrenched from Hell.

Komaeda politely reminds him that making noises won’t speed up the process.

The room falls silent for while, save for the tapping of keyboards.

Without warning, Hinata throws himself off the couch and lies on the floor. He stares up at the roof.  
Everyone ignores him.

“Just kick my ass already!” he shouts to the rooftop.  
“Actually, I’d rather eat it.” Komaeda replies, in a light, conversational tone.

The room became completely silent. There wasn’t any more tapping of keyboards.

“I think Mikan and I can finish this alone…probably.” Chiaki finally breaks the silence. Mikan begins to protest, but Chiaki just stares at her with wide eyes.  
They both leave without another word, leaving one awkward and another confused boy behind.

 

~*~


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Imagine your OTP playing Mario Kart.
> 
> Chapter tags: Fluff, Komaeda picking Rainbow Road like an asshole, non-despair a.u.

~*~

“You didn’t-“  
“I did indeed, Hinata-kun.”

Hinata cursed under his breath as the flashing rainbow track materialized on the screen. Komaeda just giggled at him.

3,  
2,  
1.

The race began, and of course Komaeda started the race with a boost, shooting ahead of everyone else.  
“How do you get the damn boost every time?” Hinata grumbled.  
“Timing…and a little luck.”

It seemed that every time Komaeda got a power up, it was a red or blue shell. Meanwhile, Hinata got stuck with useless things like the banana peel. Hinata stayed in a solid fourth or fifth position, but Komaeda hardly left first.

Komaeda did not once fall off the track.

By the final lap, it was clear that Hinata wouldn’t be able to win the race without drastic measures.  
He tossed his controller to the side and tickled Komaeda’s sides. Komaeda instantly shrieked and dropped his controller, trying to swat Hinata away. Smirking victoriously, Hinata snatched his controller back up and pulled ahead, laughing to himself all the while.

“Hinata-kun!” Komaeda finally gasps out, sounding scandalized. “That’s cheating. Ah, but I suppose I deserve it, it simply wouldn’t do for someone like me to win every round, not when I’m playing against Hinata-kun--“ He began to ramble.

Hinata shut him up with another attack of tickles. The game was forgotten as he pinned the white haired boy to the floor. Komaeda continued to shriek with laughter helplessly, squirming and trying to shift Hinata off of him. Hinata thinks that he’s never seen Komaeda this perfect before- red faced and laughing and wriggling beneath him.

He’d like to see more of this.

 

~*~


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: no prompt this time welp
> 
> Chapter tags: hinata p.o.v, drabbles

You love the feeling of his hair between your fingers.  
It's thin and wiry, but at the same time soft and comforting to feel.  
You work out some of the knots with your fingers as he hums happily up at you.

His hair twists and turns as frequently as his speech, clashing during the trials. A particularly thick section of intertwined strands is the same as his mind- so many tiny things, fighting, working together to cause a conflict of interests that will ultimately cause more ruin than good.

You unpick the knot and move onto the next.

His eyes are shut and you've come to notice over your time of knowing him how the most minimal details of his expression mean so much. His eyelid aren't clenched tight, so you can tell he is genuinely at ease with your hands running through his hair.

Or, he could know that you've noticed these small tells and changed his patterns completely to throw you off.

Perhaps his airy sighs are sounds of discomfort, and his kisses could be lies.

You don't think you'll ever know, and you think he prefers it that way.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: prompted by Medicine by Daughter
> 
> Chapter tags: Second person Hinata again, writing in second person is my calling, kind of a song fic?, not a happy story, non-despair but still with despair, mental illness

~*~

You know it’s going to be another hard day when you notice Komaeda’s polite yet perplexed smile.

You still try to greet him cheerfully, and he welcomes you, voice still tinted with confusion.  
You settle down on your usual chair next to his bed and introduce yourself to him.

(For the third time this week.)

He tells you his name and you nod without commenting.  
It’s quiet for a moment. His eyebrows are furrowed and his polite mask hasn’t slipped yet.

You ask him to tell you about himself, and hug your knees to your chest as you wait.

He tells you about his parents, and amidst rambling he cuts off, eyes wide and mouth opening and shutting wordlessly.  
You prompt him to continue, asking him quietly ‘What happened on the plane, Nag- Komaeda?’  
He bites his lip and trembles and tells you he can’t remember.

You move on to talking about his school years. That wasn’t as long ago, so he can remember a little better.  
He laughs as he tells you about a boy with a stupid strand of hair that stuck up all the time, and you laugh with him hollowly.  
He grins as he recounts the class field trip to an island, and how everyone in the class swam together and became friends.

He becomes quiet, seemingly running out of things to talk about.  
“Y’know, Hinata. I haven’t had any visitors in a while. I’m very glad that you came to talk to me! Ah-- you don’t even know me and you’re so kind!”

(You visit him every day.)

As you’re getting up to leave, he calls out for you to wait. You turn and listen to him.

“I used to have the most beautiful boyfriend, Hinata! If you come again I’ll tell you all about him.”

“Yeah,” you manage to choke out “I used to have one too.”

 

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o w c h


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: The Ferris wheel broke and now I'm stuck at the top with a complete stranger au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags- kinda implied hinata/naegi, just a plotless drabble

~*~

"Y'know, this is probably all my fault!" The white haired man next to Hinata exclaims.

Hinata smiles at him with tight lips and looks down at the ground. He's stranded on a Ferris wheel, and of course it has to be with a rambling lunatic.

Aforementioned rambling lunatic kicks his legs back and forth, making the cart rock precariously.

"Huh. And how could it be your fault?" Hinata decides to humor him; maybe it'll make the waiting period go faster.

"I've got this weird luck cycle, you see? This is, well, a bad swing I suppose-- but that only means something better it coming!" His eyes light up as he speaks.

"Wow. How...unique." Hinata tries to fight back a sarcastic response, but snark still creeps into his tone.

"Indeed it is!"

Hinata glances back down at the ground, paling a little. He can see his friends down there, waiting for him. He gives them a wobbly wave and pulls a face, and he can hear their laughter even from up here.

"Do you like heights?"

"Not particularly."

"Oh? So what are you doing in a place like this then ~?"

"My friends are buying me pizza in return for actually going on a ride. And I chose the Ferris wheel."

"...You came to a carnival and you're not going on the rides?"

Hinata screws up his face. "I'm here on a date  
It's not going well."

The other man hums sympathetically and asks which one he's on a date with.

"The short one, has scruffy brown hair, wearing a hoodie and a blazer at the same time. Yeah. Him."

The white haired man doesn't say anything, so they sit in another bout of silence.

Hinata hums absentmindedly and closes his eyes. He still doesn't like the rocking of the cart, but the silence is nice.

He jumps when the wheel creaks into motion again, and the other man reaches for his upper arm to steady him. Hinata mutters a quick thanks.

They part ways with an awkward "see ya around" when they got off.

It's not until Hinata gets home that he notices a slip of paper that's been slipped into his shoulder bag.

On it, there is a phone number, a name, and a smiley face. Hinata smiles a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is spirit-track if u wanna. send in a prompt or smth ;)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Imagine person A being stood up by their date, so they’re just sitting alone with a milkshake or something. And person B is a waiter there and they notice A has been there for while and looks increasingly sad. Person B then proceeds to give A and brownie and some hot cocoa to warm their heart and put some sweetness back into A’s smile.

~*~

 

“Y’know, if you keep sighing like that, you’re probably going to faint.”

 

Hinata takes his coffee without a word.

 

“…Can I get you anything else? Would you like a cookie? Oh-- we also have nice muffins, I suggest the raspberry!”

 

“Hah. I’ll probably still be waiting a while, knowing her…she’s probably fallen asleep. I’ll take whatever muffin, sure.”

 

The waiter smiles and takes note of his choice. “I’ll bring it out in just a minute!”

 

Hinata tugs out his phone while he waits. No missed calls, no new messages. Just in case she really has fallen asleep, he taps out another message.

No response.

 

The same waiter comes back after a few minutes. “Your raspberry muffin!” He puts it down in front of Hinata, but hesitates for a moment. Hinata watches him, a twinge of curiosity appearing.

 

“…I hope it doesn’t seem like I’m intruding or anything, but are you waiting for someone?”

 

Hinata laughs, short and without humor. “Yeah. I think she’s stood me up, though.”

 

“Oh-- I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you or anything!” The waiter scurries back to the kitchen as Hinata watches wordlessly.

 

Hinata sits alone, playing games on his phone, and resigning himself to the fate of having been left alone in a café. He nibbles on the muffin, which he admits does taste pretty good. His coffee has gone cold though.

 

He’s been waiting for just under an hour.

 

He tells himself that maybe she just got the time wrong, and that he’ll get another coffee while he waits.

He’s sure they’ll laugh about it together when she gets there.

 

Suddenly, finally, and to be honest unexpectedly, Hinata hears the soft squishing and squeaking sound of someone sitting on the couch across from him.

 

“About time-“ Hinata starts, before glancing up.

It’s the waiter.

It’s only the waiter?

Oh god, it’s that kind of cute waiter-

 

“I’m sorry, I didn-“

“Shit, I thought-“

 

They both start babbling at the same time, and then pause with matching expressions of confusion.

 

“I- I bought you a hot chocolate. I thought you might appreciate it.” The waiter tells him, offering one of two mugs while smiling shyly. Hinata takes it, digging into his wallet for change.

“No, no, it’s ok, it’s on me! I just thought you’d appreciate it!” The waiter insists. Hinata mumbles his thanks and sips it.

 

“Shouldn’t you be working?”

 

“Oh, no. I’m on my break at the moment, so I thought I’d come sit down. That is if-- you don’t mind do you?”

 

“Not really, no. I really don’t think she’s coming anyway.”

 

“That’s a shame, really.”

 

They’re both quiet for a while, sipping at their hot chocolates.

 

Without warning, the waiter jumps a little and widens his eyes. “Forgive my manners, I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Nagito Komaeda, and obviously I work here.”

“I’m Hajime Hinata. I don’t work here.”

Komaeda giggles, even though it wasn’t that funny.

 

Komaeda makes small talk, though it’s clear that he pointedly doesn’t ask about whoever stood him up.

It turns out they’re both second-years studying law, though Komaeda confesses he’s more interested in psychology.

Hinata finds that, actually, it’s pretty enjoyable to talk to Komaeda.

 

Half an hour passes, and Komaeda has to get back to work.

 

Hinata decides he might come back again tomorrow.

 

 

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops I wrote this at like midnight and forgot about my desperate need for a beta reader b y e


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: ‘I’m pretending to be your best friend because you look very uncomfortable with that person hitting on you’ au
> 
> Chapter tags- unwanted advances, second person Komaeda just for something new, one sided Teruteru/Hinata,

~*~

He looks pretty uncomfortable, you note. His hands are clenched, and his mouth is caught in a straight line, and his eyes keep flitting around the bar.

You decide to do your daily good deed and rescue him.

There’s a short guy sitting across from him, with the largest, most repulsive pompadour you’ve ever seen. You chuckle and suppose that he’s over-compensating for something.

You plonk down next to the spiky haired boy and sling an arm around him, easy as pie.  
He blinks at you, opening and shutting his mouth like a fish.  
“Hey, bro!” you sing out cheerfully. You raise your eyebrow out him and attempt to give him a meaningful glance.  
“Do- Do I know y-“  
You cut him off.  
“So, who is this guy? Are you making friends without me? You should introduce him to your best friend!” 

He’s either drunk or an idiot, because he still doesn’t seem to understand that you’re here to help him. You fight back a sigh and decide to do all the heavy lifting yourself.

“Hello there. You can call me Komaeda. This dork here is my best friend.” You punctuate your words with a quick ruffle of Spiky’s hair.  
“And, you are?” You ask with a smirk.

“Teruteru Hanamura.” He combs his hands through his head-slug-thing as he speaks and you choke back your laughter.

“Well, my friend here is quite intoxicated now, isn’t he? Allow me to take him home, yes?” You pose it as a question, but you glare at him to let him know there isn’t a choice.  
He doesn’t protest, but he wrinkles his nose and rolls his eyes, muttering something.

“C’mon, into the bathroom, bro, and then we’ll go.”  
You help Spiky up and nudge him in the direction of the bathroom. You and Teruteru watch him go.

He shuffles slowly and stumbles a little, and you decide that he’s drunk. Maybe an idiot too, but for the moment just drunk.

You decide that you may as well mess with slug-hair while you’re here.  
You lean in close to him, close enough to smell bar nuts on his breath.  
“Listen, Teruteru, my friend. I’ve been trying to tap that ass for months now. Leave him alone. Bro code, yeah?”

You grin down to him and giggle softly when he pulls away with wide eyes.

“Ta-ta, now!” You blow Teruteru a kiss and head into the bathroom after your supposed best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They were totally at a gay bar


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the first chapter that could have potentially triggering content. Please read the tags on this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter tags: Suicidal ideation, angst, not happy!!!, ambiguous ending?
> 
> Ambiguous as in, I, the author, know what happened, but I’m leaving it open to interpretation. Please come to your own conclusions, wahaha.

~*~

 

The wind is cold and whips his hair in all directions.

Hinata perches on the edge, staring at the city beneath him.  
The cars are tiny as they drive past.  
He wonders what the cars are doing, and where the people inside are going.  
He wonders why he doesn’t go anywhere anymore.

The sound of the door opening makes him flinch. He shuts his eyes tightly and waits for someone to start screaming, to pull him away from the edge.

The door shuts, and there still isn’t noise.

Hinata opens his eyes and spins around to see another man leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.

“You too, huh?” the man says.

Hinata doesn’t say anything.

The man comes and stands next to where Hinata is seated on the ledge.  
“I’m Komaeda.” He introduces himself.

“Hinata.” 

Hinata decides to give him his name, because nothing will matter anymore very soon.

“So, you’re ending it too, Hinata?” Komaeda says lightly, conversationally conversationally, as though he were only discussing the weather.

“Yeah.”

The other man peers down at the ground. He looks pale and uncertain. Hinata thinks that, despite his confident words and façade, he looks like the type to chicken out.

Komaeda leans forwards with an air of nonchalance, but Hinata can see the way his knuckles have gone white from gripping the ledge.

“Y-you wanna jump first Hinata? Or shall I?” Komaeda says, voice barely louder than the sounds of the city below.

Hinata bites his lip and throws a glance to the door.  
“You don’t have to do it. You can go back.” He tells the other man.

Komaeda looks towards the door too. His lower lip trembles.

“We can go together. If that makes it easier.” Hinata offers.

Komaeda is visibly trembling all over now. Yet, he shuffles around the ledge until he’s sitting next to Hinata.

In this position, they can either shuffle back to the door for safety, or they can give in and fall.

Hinata glances to the city, to the door, to the man next to him.

“If…if it doesn’t make you uneasy, would you mind holding my hand, Hinata?”

Komaeda offers his hand, and Hinata takes it, feeling how it is an odd mixture of cold and sweaty. He rubs his thumb across the back of Komaeda’s hand, attempting a gesture of comfort.  
Komaeda gives a wobbly, uncertain smile in return.

“Do you want to go before or after me? Or, we can still go together if you want.” Hinata asks again. He really just wants this all over with.

“I’d like to go together, Hinata.” 

They both look back to the door in unison.

“On the count of three?”

“Three…” Komaeda whispers.

“Two.” Hinata’s voice is firmer.

“…O-one.” Komaeda clenches his eyes shut.

Hinata tugs the other man along with him as they speed away from the moment.

 

~*~


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Accidentally read their diary au.  
> Chapter tags- invasion of privacy.

~*~

 

You’ll swear until the day you die that it was an accident.  
You didn’t mean to read his diary, it just…happened.

 

You’d been sitting in his bedroom, playing video games and shit-talking, like friends do.  
He’d asked if you wanted more junk food.  
You said yeah.  
He said he was going to drive down to the corner store to pick some up.  
You said you’d stay and keep playing.  
He said ok.

And the moment his front door shut your eyes seemed to zoom in on the journal. It was nice, but inconspicuous. It could have passed for just a notebook, or a sketchpad.  
You’d paused the game and wandered over to it.  
It was leather-bound, tough and sturdy beneath your fingers.

Curiosity surged through you, and before your morals could catch up, you opened it up and flicked through it.  
It was mostly generic. 

‘Today, I got an A on that test I didn’t study for. Lucky, huh?  
Today, I bought a new video game. Maybe I’ll play it with Hinata!  
Today, Hinata looked very cute.’  
You’d blinked a few times when you saw that, and paused in your page turning.  
You re-read it a few times, and it didn’t change.  
You blinked once more for good measure.

 

‘Today, Hinata looked very cute. I almost kissed him, too! Thank goodness he didn’t notice—what would he have done if he saw me looking at his mouth like that? I wouldn’t want him to hate me, or be scared…’

 

What would happen if you noticed, indeed.  
Your ears had gone red- but you kept flicking through.

Then, your phone buzzed and you’d nearly dropped the book.  
Fingers shaking, you unlocked the phone.

 

Ko: Original or barbecue flavored chips, Hinata?

 

You knew he’d pick the original no matter what you said, so you didn’t bother responding, rather put the journal down on the desk.  
You’d spent the rest of the time fretting over whether he would notice it being moved, shifting it an inch, and then turning it to the side, trying to emulate its original positioning.

Finally, with a huff, you just relocated your overnight bag onto his desk, shifting everything to the sides to make room. The journal was now in between a scrap of paper and an old wooden box.

You returned to the video games and tried to pretend nothing had happened.

 

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I'm actually pretty unhappy with this one. I'm dissatisfied with the ending but I couldn't think of a better way to fix it?????
> 
> Hopefully the next one will be better. ^^;


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Internet friend au
> 
> Chapter tags: fluff, platonic friendships, online friends, this is so self-indulgent wow, kinda ooc maybe?, shit this one is long oops, shockingly, ironically bad fanfiction inside a fanfiction
> 
> Reference for usernames (blame my RP group for most of them):  
> Komaeda- HopeBagels  
> Hinata- MasterofNone (As in, Jack of all trades; master of none…I couldn’t resist making an Izuru reference…)  
> Chiaki- Nanamemes  
> Ibuki- RainbowRockStar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this oneshot was actually gonna be a series once upon a time

~*~

MasterofNone- Hey, Ko.

HopeBagels- Yes?

MasterofNone- This might sound kinda weird and out of the blue, and I get it if you’re not comfortable and all.

HopeBagels- …I am a pure, innocent, virgin maiden, Hinata. No, you cannot tie me up, and no, I will not wear cat ears while you ravage me.

MasterofNone: Get your damn mind out of the gutter! No!

MasterofNone- Just, we’ve known each other for a few months now, and I was wondering what you look like? 

MasterofNone- This is me.

MasterofNone- (sent image)

HopeBagels- If you insist. 

HopeBagels- (sent image)

 

Shit. He was cute. Shit.

His cheekbones were high and sharp, and he had shockingly light hair that rested just above his shoulders. Wide grey eyes looked up at you from the photo and a small smile played on his lips.

What were you supposed to do now? Would it be weird to say you thought he was cute? Would that send the wrong message?  
You decided on something a little safer.

 

MasterofNone- Your hair is…interesting.

MasterofNone- Not bad interesting. Just- very white and fluffy. 

HopeBagels- Hah! Is that a sentient life-form in your hair, Hinata?

MasterofNone- No!!! It just does that on its own!

 

You’d blushed and burrowed your face into a nearby blanket. Totally blushing from anger, you’d insisted to yourself. Not because your friend is actually very attractive- nope!

 

~*~

 

You were nearly in tears from laughter.

You were in a group Skype call with some of the friends you had met online, Komaeda included.  
You laughed harder into your pillow, trying not to make too much noise.

“Bite that pillow, Hinata!” Kazuichi gasped out through his laughter. You held up your middle finger prompting him to laugh even harder.

From your screen, you could see Komaeda raise an eyebrow at you before continuing reading out the story.

“Oh, yes. Harder, he screeched. The other boy’s dingly-dangler inserted rapidly into his tight man cave. His man noodle twitched at the sensation.” Komaeda recited in a monotone.

“Man noodle?” Chiaki questions with a thoughtful expression. “I haven’t heard that one before.”

You all burst into louder laughter than before at how nonchalant Chiaki seems, and she shrugs lightly. “I’ve seen some things…”

Komaeda continues reading in his robot voice, unblinking. 

“Oi, Ibuki’s online now. I’ll add her.” Kazuichi cuts in eventually. Sure enough, a new screen name appears, and she joins the call soon after. You all try to catch your breath to greet her, and she rubs her hands together when she sees how breathless the lot of you are.

“Have you guys been reading bad fanfiction without Ibuki? Go again from the top!” 

Komaeda is all too happy to start again from the beginning.

 

~*~

You were fond of all your online friends. You’d sit through class all day, yawning and suppressing the urge to take your phone out and message them, and then hurry home in the afternoons to boot up your laptop. 

The best part, in your opinion, is when the messages come hurtling onto your screen and you begin to sift through them. New music recommendations from Ibuki, cruel but undeniably funny and original insults from Hiyoko, video game reviews and critiques from Chiaki…  
It makes you feel at home. You’re all so different, yet you fit in with each other perfectly.

After your dinner, you settle down in bed and sit your laptop next to you. A call is already going so you join in. Everyone greets you warmly.  
You all talk about your days, and your classes, and your families. Slowly, you move into gossip. Chiaki confesses that she has a crush on a boy she knows in real life, so you all start cooing and teasing her. She turns a light shade of pink and pulls her hoodie over her face.

The group moves into discussion on crushes and relationships. Ibuki gushes about her girlfriend; Mikan goes bright red and splutters that there isn’t anyone; and there is the unspoken knowledge that Kazuichi pines after Sonia.  
You’re the next target- and you don’t know what to say. So you answer honestly.

“Uh, I mean. There is someone I think about a lot. We speak all the time too! And they’re very… cute. But I don’t know if it’s a crush or anything.” You shrug and hope they’ll move onto someone else.

“Boy or girl?” Ibuki questions with a gleam in her eye.  
“Boy.” You admit.  
“I knew it!” she shrieks. “We are the gayest group of friends ever!”

“…I think most of us are at least eighty-percent straight, Ibuki.” Chiaki mumbles.

You just wrinkle your nose and wait for her shrieks to die out. When they do, Ibuki focuses the conversation on Sonia, who talks about a boy named Gundham. You can see Kazuichi looking down, his bottom lip wobbling a bit. You hope for his sake that nobody else notices. And if they do, they don’t mention it.

While Hiyoko is exclaiming with a bright red face that there isn’t anyone, really!, you see a notification of a private message from Ibuki.

 

RainbowRockStar- Ibuki knows your seeeee~-creeeet~!

MasterofNone- You aren’t Regina George, Ibuki.

RainbowRockStar- Ibuki knows that! But! She does know your seeeeeeeecret~!

MasterofNone- …What secret?

RainbowRockStar- Hinata wants to do the horizontal hokey-pokey with Komaeda!

MasterofNone- …I have no idea what you are talking about.

RainbowRockStar- Don’t play coy with Ibuki! It stands out as obviously as your hair-thingy!

RainbowRockStar- Chiaki figured it out too~!

 

RainbowRockStar added Nanamemes to the conversation.

 

Nanamemes- Hello, Hinata, Ibuki.

RainbowRockStar- Hinata wants Komaeda’s dingly dangler in his man caaaave~!

MasterofNone- H-hey!

Nanamemes- Oh. I think I knew that already.

Nanamemes- Or, did he finally admit it?

MasterofNone- HEY!

RainbowRockStar- Yes, Hinataaa~?

MasterofNone- …How?

Nanamemes- Women’s intuition.

RainbowRockStar- Also! You’re as transparent as cling wrap~!

MasterofNone- Shit. Really? 

MasterofNone- Do you think he can tell?

MasterofNone- Also, slow down for a minute! I don’t even know if I actually like him?

Nanamemes- Do you think he’s attractive?

RainbowRockStar- Does Hinata’s heart beat faster when he sees a message from Komaeda?

MasterofNone- I…suppose, for both?

RainbowRockStar- If Komaeda’s throbbing pork sword was about to pillage Hinata’s village of purity, would Hinata run?

MasterofNone- I don’t even know what that means, Ibuki.

Nanamemes- I don’t think it’s very hard, Hinata. To decide your feelings, I mean.

RainbowRockStar- OH! Quiet, Ibuki thinks that its Koko-pop’s turn!

 

You flicked your gaze back up to the video call. You’d been focusing on typing in the private chat, and had tuned out the call. Sure enough, it was Komaeda’s turn in the spotlight.

“Ahah. I don’t know!” Komaeda was laughing awkwardly, hands held palm up in front of him.

“It’s not a hard question!” Hiyoko tells him.  
“Indeed. Yes or no should suffice.” Sonia adds.

You fix your eyes to the screen, carefully watching Komaeda. You notice that the tips of his ears are tinged red.

“Yes?” He says, sounding more like he was asking a question.  
“Ibuki wants details!”  
“Yeah. I want to know more too…I think.”

You look back to the private chat with a small grimace.

 

MasterofNone- Be subtle, you guys!

 

They don’t respond to you, rather they press Komaeda for more details. 

“I…” Komaeda starts, then trails off, looking to the floor of his bedroom. “I suppose I do. But they wouldn’t be interested in me anyway, so it’s no big deal. Shall we move on?”

“More details! Ibuki needs more details!” Ibuki sings out. By this point, the redness has travelled from Komaeda’s ears to his cheeks. Komaeda looks down at the floor again and you notice that he’s subtly typing something. A moment later, a private message from him flicks across your screen.

 

HopeBagels- Help me, please?

 

You’re completely torn. You do want to know more about his crush, but you also feel compelled to rescue him.  
You toss both sides around in your head and decide to help him. You message Chiaki and Ibuki with ‘ABORT MISSION, ABORT.’  
They both look at you through the screen, confused. “He admitted it, that should be enough.”

You then shift the conversation back to Hiyoko. She swears at you and keeps on insisting that she isn’t interested in anyone.

You take the chance to respond to Komaeda.

 

MasterofNone- You owe me, man.

HopeBagels- Indeed I do. :)

 

You leave that conversation there and return to the chat with Ibuki and Chiaki. 

 

MasterofNone- He asked me to help him. **shrug**

RainbowRockStar- Oh! Is Hinata the knight in a shiningly white shirt?

Nanamemes- I understand. We were beginning to press to hard, I think.

RainbowRockStar- Now is Hinata’s chance! Take advantage of Koko-pops in his blushing, freshly rescued state and recall information!

RainbowRockStar- Go, go power ranger!

Nanamemes- I think you probably could try to push the matter in a private chat, Hinata. But don’t bother him too much about it…probably.

MasterofNone- …Ok. I’ll give it a go.

 

You re-opened your chat with Komaeda and tried to compose a suitable message.

 

MasterofNone- You know, you can tell me anything right?

HopeBagels- Indeed I do. Is this still about the crush issue?

MasterofNone- Yeah. I’m just- curious, I guess. You’re my friend, I’d like to know more.

HopeBagels- Don’t worry about it. They’re unattainable anyway, for someone like me! It’s just a little infatuation. :)

 

You don’t really know how to respond to that. You want to ask him more but you’re not sure how to do it.  
Your hands hover above the keyboard for a long moment before you switch back to the chat with Ibuki and Chiaki.  
Ibuki tells you to be blunt and tell him ‘you want his gaybies’, and Chiaki says to try and subtly push the matter further and insist.

 

MasterofNone- We can make a deal? Tell me about yours and I’ll tell you about mine?

HopeBagels- It’s a little complicated, Hinata. I’m a little…shy about talking about it, I suppose.

MasterofNone- I’m your friend! You can tell me anything. But if you don’t wanna, that’s cool.

HopeBagels- … :/

HopeBagels- I’m going to try and be brave like you. Just-- promise to still be my friend after?

MasterofNone- Of course

HopeBagels- Can you go first, Hinata?

MasterofNone- Sure. I met him a few months ago, online. And we’ve spoken nearly everyday since! He’s funny, and clever, and yeah…I think I like him?

HopeBagels- …I guess being brave is kinda scary, huh.

HopeBagels- I also met someone online, several months ago. And I speak to them frequently, too. They’re witty-- and to be honest a dork, but an adorable dork.

MasterofNone- Great! See? It’s not so bad to tell.

 

You take screencaps of the conversation and forward it to Ibuki and Chiaki. Ibuki screams so loudly that you nearly fall out of your chair, and damn, you’d practically forgotten you were even still in a call.

“You’re IN, Hajime! Yes, my son! You are in! Go! For! The! Booty!”

You’ve gone red, and Chiaki’s eyes are wide, but everyone else just looks mildly confused.

“Oh…Ibuki has to hang the washing out! She tooootally forgot. Oops, gotta fly!” Ibuki hangs up.

The awkward silence still hangs in the air. No-one says anything, and you all slowly go back to what you were doing before your eardrums were shattered.

Komaeda’s gone red again, and you aren’t doing much better.

 

HopeBagels- Care to explain?

 

Fuc-

 

MasterofNone- I could have possibly sent something to Ibuki? Maybe?

HopeBagels- Indeed.

 

You glance up to the screen to look at him. He’s got one eyebrow cocked and a skeptical expression, but he’s still blushing lightly.  
He said that you’re brave, but really you’re the coward here.

 

MasterofNone- Welp! Gotta go. I’ll talk to ya later.

HopeBagels- Bye, Hinata.

 

You hang up the call and hide under your sheets.

 

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun drinking game: Take a shot every time Komaeda says 'indeed' in one of my fics. Go home completely drunk.  
> I seem to have a literary boner for Ko saying 'indeed'?


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Imagine your OTP seeing a wasp in the house. Person A freaks out, and Person B tries to be brave and kill it. After trying to kill it for five minutes person A and person B end up hiding in the bathroom together.

~*~

“Hajime Hajime Hajime kill it already-- make it go away, kill it Hajime!”

“…I’m trying, Nagito.”

Hinata dashes around the apartment, rolled up newspaper in hand, alternating between chasing a wasp and running away from it.  
And of course, Komaeda had scrambled to lock himself in the bathroom the moment he spotted the wasp.

Hinata swings his makeshift baton towards the winged fiend. He lets out a less-than-manly shriek when it buzzes down towards him.

“Kill it!”

“That’s really not fuckin’ helpful, Ko!”

The wasp dive-bombs, and Hinata winces, certain that today is the day he dies. He ducks and hurtles to the bathroom, shrieking for Komaeda to open the door. Thankfully he does, so Hinata rushes in before slamming the door shut. He breathes heavily, Komaeda watching him with a serious expression.

They both break down in a fit of giggles.

 

~*~


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Imagine your OTP doing the Team Rocket introduction from Pokémon and doing Jesse and James’ parts.
> 
> OT3 Bonus- Person C is Meowth
> 
>    
> Chapter tags- vague komahinanami

~*~

 

“Everybody ready?” Komaeda sings out to his unwilling friends. “Positions, let’s go!”

He hurries over to turn on his camera and places it onto a stand before rushing back to his spot.

“Prepare for trouble!” Komaeda shouts as he turns around, one fist in the air.

“…And make it double.” Hinata grumbles as he too spins around.

“To protect the world from devastation!”

“To unite all people within our nation?”

“To denounce the evils of ‘truth’ and ‘love!’”

“…To extend our reach to the stars of above…?”

“Jessie~!”

“James.”

“Team Rocket blast off at the speeeeed of light!”

Hinata glances down to his palm cards. “Surrender now or prepare to fight.”

Komaeda nudges Nanami with his foot and she perks up, looking momentarily confused.

“Oh, right. Meowth...that’s right.”

“Great work everybody!” 

Komaeda stops the camera filming as he grins to his friends. “Thank you for doing this with me… I’ve dreamed of having such close friends since I was young! I always wanted partners to recite this with!”

Hinata and Nanami give each other sidelong, long-suffering glances.

 

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok but please just imagine them doing this before every class trial to get pumped up


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: No prompt this time, I just have an unhealthy obsession with occult rituals and demonic games.
> 
> Chapter tags: Midnight Man game, paranormal happenings

~*~

“Hey, Hajime?”

“Mm?”

“Do you wanna try something with me?”

Hinata glances up from his book. His boyfriend is leaning against the door-frame, brandishing a candle and paper.

“Are we playing with the Ouija board again? Because I swear to god, you were moving the planchette on your own…”

Komaeda shakes his head. “First off, you aren’t supposed to say you’re playing with the board, Hajime. Secondly, no. I want to do the Midnight Man ritual.”

Hinata isn’t familiar with it and asks what it is.  
Komaeda eyes light up as he explains. “We summon the Midnight Man in here, and then we have so stay away from him until three thirty-three. And we’ve gotta keep the candle lit the whole time.”

Hinata sets his book down, knowing that Komaeda will do this with or without him. “Sure. Lets try.”

“Oh, great! It’s eleven now, and we start at midnight. So we can get started.”

Komaeda pulls out his phone and brings up a guide to the game.  
“So, we’ve got a candle, and the paper…a pen is over there… matches are under the sink… do we have salt in the cupboard, Hinata? That door is wooden, and we both have blood! Easy.”

Hinata rolls his eyes and wonders how he ended up with an occult enthusiast for a life partner.

“One candle for you, Hajime, and I’ll hold onto this one. I’ll go turn off the power, so light the candles up please!”

He does as he is told; exhaling loudly once Komaeda leaves the room.  
Without warning, the lights flick off, and only the soft flickering of the candles illuminates the room.

Komaeda manages to get back without tripping over anything. His face is lit up by the candles, and Hinata can see that he’s grinning.

“Hey, Ko? When do we know that it’s time to stop the game?”

Komaeda looks dumbfounded. Of course he hasn’t thought things out that far, Hinata thinks.  
He just shrugs. “I guess we’ll just know!”

Hinata wrinkles his nose and glances over to the clock above their t.v. “Or, we could come back here periodically and check the clock?”

Komaeda claps and gets halfway through saying how great that idea is before freezing up.

“What is it?”

“Uh, that might not work if we have to stay in the salt circle.”

“…Please explain further, Nagito.”

“If the candles we’re holding are blown out by the Midnight Man, we have ten seconds to light them back up. And then we can keep moving-- but if we don’t do that in time, we need to make a salt circle and stay in it until he leaves.”

“Uh-huh. And what happens if we don’t make the salt circle in time?”

“He conjures up a hallucination of your worst fear and kills you.” Komaeda says nonchalantly.

Hinata swears under his breath and wonders if he can just go sleep in the car tonight instead.  
Komaeda smiles softly and reaches for Hinata’s hand. “It’s fine if you don’t want to do it, Hajime. Really!”

“I’ll do it.” Hinata says, but he still feels uncertain.

Komaeda leans across and hugs him tightly. “It’ll be fine! Three hours of a little spookiness, and then we’re good to go.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

They start to prepare pouches of salt to keep on themselves. When they finish, Komaeda procures a pen and a pin.  
“Sign your life away, Hajime.” Komaeda chuckles as he slides a slip of paper towards Hinata.

Hinata writes his name and then pricks his index finger. He watches a rivulet of blood trickle downwards to the paper.  
Komaeda is still smiling peacefully.

“Ten more minutes to midnight.” Hinata says.

“Indeed…really-- you can leave. I can do this alone if you aren’t comfortable…”

“I said I’d do it, ok?”

“…Alright. I’m going to take the papers outside now.”

Komaeda holds out his hand and Hinata takes it. They stumble through their house, and Hinata idly thinks that if he’s having trouble moving in the dark now, it’s going to be far harder when he thinks that there’s some malevolent entity chasing him.

Their candles are small and flickering. They don’t really do much to lighten up the room.

Komaeda opens the door and holds out his hand. “I need your candle, Hinata.”

He places their papers outside, puts the candles on top, and shuts the door.

“Last call, Hajime. This is the last moment where you can go back.”

Hinata fixes him with a hard glance, so Komaeda bites his lip and starts knocking.

Once,  
Twice…

He reaches twenty-one and pauses for a moment before the final knock.

Twenty-two...

Komaeda opens the door and snatches the candles up, handing one to Hinata.

They’re still holding hands. “Still got your salt pouches?”

They both nod.

“Matches?”

They both nod.

The house is still dark and quiet. The atmosphere hasn’t changed, and Hinata thinks that maybe the ritual failed somehow.

They look at each for a long moment. Hinata shrugs, and Komaeda looks almost disappointed.

“We shouldn’t take it easy-- not yet. Let’s move into the living room and watch the clock.”

The living room is much colder than Hinata remembers. Komaeda’s eyes go wide, and his lips tremble. Hinata keeps his gaze fixed on the candles, and almost screams when they both start to flicker on and off.

“Move move move move!” Hinata chants and tugs them both out of the living room.  
Their candles are still lit.

They look each other in the eyes. Komaeda looks more frightened then Hinata has ever seen, and he is almost glad he didn’t leave him alone to do this.  
He mostly just wishes that they didn’t start this though.

“Are there any other rules that we didn’t go over, Ko?”

Komaeda looks dazed, and it takes him a moment before he rattles off the answer. “Don’t go to sleep, don’t leave the salt circle, don’t provoke the Midnight Man, don’t leave the house, he stays here until three thirty-three.”

Hinata fights back a groan. “Let’s just try to stay together, ok?” They make their way down the hallway.

“…It’s important that we don’t go into small rooms, and ideally anywhere we go should have more than one exit in case he blocks one off.” Komaeda tells him.

“Ok. So, we need to stay away from the bathroom then, and the laundry. The bedroom should be ok, and the living room is pretty big. And we’ll stay away from the basement.”

Komaeda looks a little confused. 

Hinata laughs softly. “This is weird enough. We don’t need any horror movie shit on top of it. Always stay away from the basement, y’know?”

Komaeda nods a few times, quick and tense. They clasp their hands together tighter, still watching their candles intently as they wander through the house.

“Three hours of a little spookiness, hey.” Hinata mutters. Komaeda doesn’t reply.

It’s quiet and uneventful again, and Hinata is starting to think that the candles only started the die out because of their sudden movements through the house.

“Hey.”

“What is it?”

Komaeda cocks his head to the side and stops walking. “…can you hear that too?”

Hinata focuses, and surely enough he can hear soft whispering. Hinata goes stiff, and tries to concentrate on steadying his breathing. 

“I think it’s coming from behind us, Ko. Keep walking forward-- don’t look back yet, ok?”

They keep shuffling forwards, watching the candles intently. For the time being, their candles are still lit.

Komaeda looks like he’s handling this a little better than the temperature change in the living room, at least. Still, Hinata gives his hand a reassuring squeeze. Komaeda gives a small, grateful smile.

“I’m glad Hinata is here too.”

“Hah. Honestly, I wish we’d decided not to do this.”

They cut through their bedroom and end up back in the living room.  
It’s only twelve-thirty. 

Hinata curses loudly and throws an exasperated glance over his shoulder.

He does a double take.

“D-Don’t fucking look Komaeda.”

Of course Komaeda looks over anyway.  
He looks like he’s screaming, but no sound is coming out.

There’s a large, dark figure standing in the door-frame. It’s humanoid and thin, but too tall to be anything human. A detached part of Hinata’s conscious notices that it’s mirroring the position Komaeda was in when he asked to play this game.  
They’re both frozen, staring over at the figure. Hinata thinks that he wants to move, very badly, and wonders why his legs won’t seem to move.

Then his candle starts to flicker in and out again, and he can move. He tightens his hold on Komaeda’s hand and rushes them out of the room.

His candle is still alight, but Komaeda’s has gone out. Komaeda stares at it, looking confused.  
Hinata throws his head back and whispers a string of obscene phrases as he fumbles to tug out his own matches out and re-lights Komaeda’s candle.

Hinata glances around the area, but it looks like they’re safe for the time being. “Komaeda. Komaeda. Komaeda!”  
Komaeda looks completely stupefied, his mouth opening and shutting soundlessly.

Hinata taps his cheeks, too softly to be a slap, yet hard enough to give him a shock. Komaeda widens his eyes, blinks a few times and shuts his mouth.

“Are you ok?”

Komaeda nods quickly so Hinata pulls him along again. They wander through the house.

“I feel like we’ve figured this out, but how are we supposed to know when he’s nearby?””

“Hearing whispering or chanting, sudden changes in temperature, seeing a dark figure, and having your candle go out.” Komaeda mumbles.

They keep wandering, staying away from the smaller rooms of the house. Neither say much.

Hinata decides that after you get over the initial shock, it’s easy to keep a level head. If you hear noise, move away. If you think you see something, don’t look and try to confirm, just move away. It it’s suddenly, unreasonably hot or cold, move away.

Suddenly, the whispering increases in volume in unison with the temperature dropping. Hinata notices that Komaeda’s breathing becomes rapid and shallow.  
Hinata can see the figure out of the corner of his eye and he panics.

The candles go out.

They stare at each other again, in a state of shock.

Komaeda looks like he might cry soon, and that snaps Hinata out of it. He thinks quickly and decides that its probably far too late to try and light a match. He yanks his salt pouch out of his pocket and immediately starts to spread the circle around both of them.  
Komaeda is still unmoving.

Hinata finally lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding once the circle is done.

“Alright. We’re alright now. We’re in the salt circle now, Nagito. Safe now. We just need to wait.”

Hinata slumps to the ground, dragging Komaeda with him. 

Komaeda looks up with hollow eyes and manages to choke something out under his breath.

Hinata can’t hear him and asks him to repeat.

“…Only one person can go in the salt circle, Hajime.”

 

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh, I would both love and loathe to play this game in real life. I love a good spook, but I'm also terrified I'll, like, die.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Imagine your OTP in a My Immortal au. 
> 
>  
> 
> Actual chapter tags: Crack crack complete crack, I swear I’m a semi-serious author, count the Scene Kid AU references,
> 
>  
> 
> Chapter tagzz: goffix au! (get it, bc im goffix), P!!!!!ATD ROX!! look at theze dweEbz

~*~

Hi my name is Hajime Hinata Hectic Haywire and I have short brown hair with blood red spikes rainbow streaks across my bangs (that’s how I got my name, bcuz my hair is hectic) and brown eyes that look like deep pits of despair and rage and a lot of people tell me I look like Izuru Kamakura (AN: if u don’t know who he is get da hell out of here!). I’m not related to Junko Enoshima but I wish I was because she’s a major fucking hottie. I’m a vampire but my teeth are as straight and white as my friend Ishimaru. I have pale white skin. I’m also a wizaRd, and I go to a school called Hopes Peak Academy in England where I’m in the seventh year (I’m seventeen). I’m a goth (in case you couldn’t tell) and I wear mostly black. I love Hot Topic and I buy all my clothes from there.  
For example today I was wearing a black button up shirt with a rainbow tie and ripped black skinny jeans and chunky Doc Marten boots. I was wearing black lipstick (bcuz all the goff boys do), white foundation (for the aestheticz), and black smudgy eyeliner. I was walking outside HPA. It was snowing and raining so there was no sun, which I was very happy about. A lot of reserve course students stared at me. I put up my middle finger at them.

“Hey Hinata-koon!” shouted a voice. I looked up. It was…. Nagito Komaeda!

“What’s up Nagito?” I asked.

“Nothing.” he said shyly.

But then, I heard my friends call me and I had to go away.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

A/N IS IT GOOOO? PLZ TELL ME THANX

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The next day I woke up in my bedroom! It was snowing and raining again. I opened the door of my coffin and drank some blood from a a bottle I had in the fridge.. My coffin was black ebony and inside it was dark deep red with black lace trim on the ends. I got out of my coffin and took of my giant P!ATD shirt and boxers that I sleep in.  
Instead, I put on tight leather skinny jeans, and rainbow shirt that said ‘EAT AT LEAST 7 DICKS’ and a crucifix choker. I put on four pairs of earrings in my pierced ears, and spiked up my hair.

My friend, Stevie (AN: Souda dis is u!) woke up then and grinned at me. Hhe flipped his shoulder length bright pink hair hair with black streaks and opened his sinful shining yellow eyes. He put on his Jeffree Star t-shirt with a black skinny jeans, rainbow socks and big boots with metal clips. We put on our makeup (black lipstick white foundation and black eyeliner.)

“OMFG, I saw you talking to Nagito Komaeda yesterday!” he said excitedly.

“Yeah? So?” I said, blushing.

“Do you like Nagitoooo?” she asked as we went out of the Slytherin common room and into the Great Hall.

“No I so fucking don’t!” I shouted.

“Yeah right!” he exclaimed. Just then, Nagito Komaeda walked up to me.

“Hi.” he said.

“Hi.” I replied flirtily.

“Guess what.” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, Bring Me The Horizon are having a concert in Hogsmeade.” he told me.

“Oh. My. Fucking. God!” I screamed. I love BMTH. They are my favorite band, besides P!ATD.

“Well…. do you want to go with me?” he asked.

I gasped.

 

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my life has beEn overcum by the overwhleming nEED to find a HinatA-koooon to rP with tbH
> 
> …Tbh, I actually unironically enjoyed My Immortal, and have read it at least three times. I appreciate finely aged memes with a side of satire.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Can you help me sneak my cat into the dorm room?
> 
> Chapter tags: College AU, this one could be taken platonically, daring cat smuggling, move over Komahina there’s a new OTP in town and it is Komaeda x Tiddles, kinda referenced Naegiri, but you can interpret that how you want.

~*~

 

“Can you help me sneak my cat in?”

There’s a long moment of silence.

“I’m sorry but-- could you repeat that?”

“My cat is waiting in the car for me to bring her up into the dorm, and I realize I’ve only known you for like, ten minutes, but still? Will you help me?”

Hinata’s new roommate is speaking rapidly, eagerly.

“…How long has your cat been in the car? Is she still gonna be alive when we get down there?”

“Of course she is! I left the windows rolled down, and it’s only been half an hour yet. Tiddles will be fine!” He says, eyes wide and scandalized.

“And her damn name is Tiddles…” Hinata mutters to himself.

“So, will you help me?”

Hinata decides that honestly, he has nothing better to do. He’s unpacked all his important things, it’s too early to get a meal, and there aren’t any organized events for the first day.

“Sure. Let’s go rescue Tiddles.”

They both remember the dormitory block rules, of course. One of the first rules was ‘No pets inside dorms’. But it would seem that Tiddles is above the rules.

“Hey, Komaeda was it? How are you planning on hiding a cat in the dorm room anyway?” Hinata asks as they exit.

“…Do you think they’ll check under the sink? I—I mean I’m going to let her do what she wants, but if we have inspections I suppose I can pop her under the kitchen sink…?”

Hinata sighs, hoping that it isn’t audible. “Sure. Sure. Go with that.”

They reach a scratched up car in the college parking lot and Komaeda gestures grandly at it, signifying that this is his. And sure enough, there’s a fluffy white cat inside, stretched out across the passenger seat. 

“Hey, puss puss.” Komaeda coos, reaching for the cat. Tiddles leaps into his arms and mewls happily.

Hinata watches wordlessly and taps his foot.

They glance around to confirm that the lot is empty. It is.  
Komaeda whispers something to Tiddles, sounding partly apologetic and partly comforting, before stuffing her into his coat and zipping it closed.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, it kinda looks like you’ve sprouted breasts.”

Komaeda places one hand over his heart, feigning shock. Or at least, Hinata thinks he’s feigning shock. Admittedly, he can’t really tell.

“Let’s head up to the dorm. Hinata, I need you to get up to the hallway outside our room and check that no-one is there. If there is someone there, go into the dorm and wait till they leave. When the coast is clear, I would like you to open the backdoor. And then! We dash into the room! Did you get that all?” Komaeda rambles. 

“Uh, sure. Go up and open the backdoor.”

“Essentially, yes.”

“Alright. Operation: Smuggle Tiddles is a go.” Hinata says, fighting back a laugh.

They both start humming the Mission: Impossible theme at the same time before high-fiving. Maybe, Hinata thinks, he could be friends with this crazy cat kid.

“Good luck, Hinata!”

Hinata heads back to his new dorm, forcing a nonchalant air. He’s either convincing, or no-one cares enough to question him.  
There isn’t anyone in the hallway when he gets up there.

He opens the door to the back entrance, and Komaeda is there, giggling like a grade school child. The laughter is infectious. Tiddles moves underneath Komaeda’s coat, purring, and they laugh harder.

They must have spent too long enjoying themselves because there’s a girl with lavender hair in the hallway when they collect themselves and go to enter their room.  
They both freeze.  
She sizes them up, one eyebrow raised.

“I probably can’t explain, so I won’t even bother—“ Komaeda starts.

“Cat or dog?” She cuts him off.

“We, uh, have no idea what you mean.” Hinata offers weakly. She looks at him skeptically before turning her attention to Komaeda again.

“Is it a kitty or a puppy?” She asks again.

“She’s a cat.” Komaeda mumbles. Tiddles pops her head out, right on cue.

“May I pat her?” The girl asks. Komaeda and Hinata are both taken aback, glancing at each other with wide eyes.

“O-Of course.” Komaeda says. The girl crosses the room and gently runs her fingers across Tiddles’ head. She tugs a ribbon out of hair and gives it to the cat to play with.

“You’re going to try and hide her, are you not?” She asks, looking up from Tiddles. Komaeda nods silently.

“We don’t check under the bathroom sink during inspections.” 

She winks at them conspiratorially before turning to walk away. Komaeda calls out a thank you, and Hinata is just plain confused.

“My boyfriend,” She says over her shoulder “He keeps his dog in his dorm. It’s not so hard to hide, if you know how. Good luck, then.”

Overall, Hinata decides, it wasn’t a bad first day at college.

 

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, course work has hit me hard. Updates may not be as frequent.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Imagine A is a morning person and B isn’t. A tries to get out of bed in the morning without waking up B, but B notices and cuddles closer to A, wrapping their arms around them so that they can stay in bed longer. A struggles and tries to roll over to escape, but only manages to get on top of B. B then grabs A’s hips and slowly grinds against them, leaving A turned on and eventually caving in to some morning sex. 
> 
>  
> 
> Chapter tags: NSFW
> 
> hEy so fun fact this is the first time I’ve written smut that isn’t dub/non-con sO this was a FUN learning experience filled with the magic and adventure that is learning how to write consensual porn.

~*~

Komaeda always rises with the sun.

It just makes sense to him—when the sun rises, you start the day. Once it’s dark and the stars are in the sky, it’s time to sleep.

The same can’t be said for Hinata.

Hinata likes to laze in bed, entwining himself in the sheets until he can bring himself to be dragged into the world of the waking.

Komaeda always lies beside him for a short while, sleepily drinking in the way the other boy smiles softly while he sleeps and curls himself around Komaeda.  
Pretty quickly however, Komaeda will get bored, and decide that he wants to start his day.

He sits up in the bed, trying carefully not to shift either of them too quickly, but Hinata begins to stir. Komaeda lets out the breath he was holding and still tries to get out of bed before Hinata can--

Hinata slings his arm around Komaeda’s waist and tugs him in closer.  
Komaeda is still sitting up in bed, leaning back against the bedframe. He counts to ten before trying to pry Hinata’s fingers away. Hinata just mumbles something incomprehensible.  
“C’mon, get off me Hajime…”  
Hinata responds by tightening his grip. Komaeda groans internally and tries to slide down the bed. He reasons that he can try and slip out from underneath Hinata’s arm.

He’s unsuccessful. Hinata mumbles something else that Komaeda doesn’t catch before burrowing his head in Komaeda’s chest. Komaeda is mildly frustrated, so he decides to try a different tactic. He swings one leg over the other boy and rolls himself so he’s hovering on top of Hinata.  
Hinata’s arm swings down to his side, but now his eyes are open, bleary but widening.

“Uh, good morning Hinata,” Komaeda starts cautiously. Don’t mind me, just trying to get up, he finishes in his mind.

There’s a long, silent moment of Hinata blinking sleepily and looking dumbfounded, and Komaeda realising that he probably looks like a creeper perched over him like this.  
He’s already preparing a string of apologies and explanations in his mind when Hinata reaches up and seizes his hips in his hands.  
It’s Komaeda’s turn to look confused before Hinata arches his own hips and grinds up, slowly, lazily.  
He breathes in, quick and shallow, feeling the tips of his ears turning red.

Hinata lets his eyes fall shut as he grinds up again, more insistent this time. Komaeda continues to hover, not sure if he should do something-- well, of course he’s going to do something, but what?  
Hinata pushes up again, and god, he’s already hard, and it’s hardly even been a minute.  
Komaeda grinds down against him, hesitantly. He can hear Hinata breathing in shallowly.

“Mm, Nagi- Nagito,” Hinata mumbles, and the heat from Komaeda’s face is tracing a troubling path to his crotch.  
Hinata reaches up to Komaeda’s shoulders and drags him in closer, nails digging in, and Komaeda lets him. From this proximity, he can hear Hinata’s small gasps for air and breathy moans.

“W-what are we doing, Hajime?”

He says something with slurred, sleepy words that sounds like “dunno, kissing” but admittedly Komaeda isn’t sure.  
He’s almost amused by the way Hinata tilts his head upwards and tries to immediately seize his lips afterwards, but he’s mostly too turned on to laugh.

“Nah-uh. Really, what are we doing here?”

Hinata lets out a low, hushed whine, and Komaeda learns that he can get even more turned on.

“You still need to answer me, Hajime.” Komaeda reminds him, fighting back his own desire to kiss him senseless.

“Whaddayouwannado?” Hinata blurts. 

“Get a translator, if you keep talking like that.”

Hinata wrinkles his nose and moves one hand up to lightly slap Komaeda’s head before threading his fingers through his knotty, mussed hair. He tugs him in closer.

“You still understood me though.” Hinata whispers against the other boy’s lips.

Komaeda gives in and kisses him. Hinata’s lips are rough and chapped, and Komaeda loves the way they lightly scratch his.  
Their grinding starts up again, hard and insistent thrusts against the other. Hinata lets out soft sighs of pleasure. Komaeda mumbles against the other boy’s lips how gorgeous he sounds.

As vocal as Hinata is during the main event, it’s always Komaeda who is louder when he climaxes.  
He chokes on air during a long moan, jerking his hips erratically.  
Hinata comes with a gasp not long after.

They lie beside each other and catch their breath again.

“Stay in bed with me?” Hinata asks, looking small and vulnerable.

Of course he stays.

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo Komaeda, he never answered the question. How dare you not ask for consent every five minutes. 
> 
>  
> 
> My own writing makes me uneasy and awkward, like wth I’m your creator stop embarrassing me,,,,,,,,  
> An honest and serious note, though:  
> I adore the comments and kudos that I get from you all, they really brighten my day. It’s so uplifting to know that my dumb little drabbles are appreciated and make other people happy! Stay hella, you dorks.  
> Hopefully the next chapter will be out quicker, and I’ll feel more satisfied with it.  
> 


	21. Summer Camp AU Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: We’re group leaders at a summer camp and my squadron of twelve year olds are gonna beat yours.
> 
> Chapter tags: Summer camp AU, bed/sleeping bag sharing trope.  
> U CAN PRETEND UR ABOVE THAT TROPE BUT NO ONE IS. i will go down with my bedsharing trope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn’t up nearly as soon as I wanted it to be, obviously. I won’t torture you all with the gory details, but basically my courses have punched me right in the face and my mental health has taken a bit of a tumble. Sorry.
> 
> Also I'm not entirely sure how American summer camps work. With camps I've been on, counselors can leave at night to work or attend evening classes, and they only sleep in the same cabin as their campers if the campers are unsettled. So if that's not how it works then R.I.P.

~*~

 

Komaeda holds a laminated slip in his hands. Disbelief overtakes him.

He stumbles to a wooden cabin, shoving the door open before collapsing on a chair.  
“Forty.” His voice is hoarse. 

“F-forty.” He repeats.

“We only got forty cabin points.”

He claps his hands three times and whistles, waiting for the campers to emerge.  
One, two, three, four, five, six heads are hung.  
“…Where’s Sam?”

He can hear a thud from the bunk-bed area, and then another boy trots out, looking repentant.

Komaeda lets his head fall back for full dramatic effect. “Only. Only forty. Just how messy did you leave this place?”  
The boys don’t say anything.

“How are we supposed to beat the badger dorm if we’re only getting forty points on a cabin inspection?”

No-one says a word.

He scans the cabin. Sand on the floor, muddy shoes scattered across the cabin, dishes in the sink.

“Maybe if you weren’t so busy flirting you could have helped us.” Komaeda isn’t sure which kid said it, but it becomes apparent from their bright eyes and tiny smirks that they all agree.

“First off, it isn’t flirting, it’s seducing the enemy so that I can destroy him. Secondly, it’s your cabin, and you boys need to clean it yourself. Those are the rules.”

They’re all quiet, but still smirk.

“Whatever. We need to get heading to the hall. Just… do better next time?”

There’s a collective nod before the group shuffles to the hall.

 

~*~

 

Komaeda herds his boys into the hall, quieting them down before heading to the back. Hinata’s already there, and of bloody course his boys are already quietly sitting with crossed legs.

“Two hundred cabin points.” Is Hinata’s greeting.

“Y-you’re kidding?”

“Nope. My boys even cleaned the windows.”

Now Komaeda is the speechless one.

Hinata crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow, smiling. “How many did your cabin get?”

“…Uh, we would prefer not to disclose that information.”

 

~*~

 

“Two hundred!” Komaeda wails.

He’s collapsed on the same rickety chair as before and his campers are fanning him with their flip-flops and plastic plates.

“Nagito?”

“Leave me behind to rot, Felix. Go on without your worthless leader.”

“…We can still catch up. We have another five weeks still.”

“Yeah! We’ll beat ‘em tomorrow at the hike!”

“…Fine. We will. We are going to destroy the badgers, you hear me boys?”

He raises his hand weakly for a series of high-fives.

“But. I’m coming half an hour before lights-out every night. And you are all going to clean to my standards.”

There’s a chorus of groans.

“C’mon. Get into bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

They scramble into their bunk-beds and tuck themselves between sheets or inside sleeping bags.

“Remember, no talking after lights out. We can lose points for that.”

He turns the lights off and turns away to go to the leaders’ cabin.

He can hear their chattering as soon as he shuts the door.

 

~*~

 

“Beach hike today! Get hyped!” Komaeda cheers as he tries to wake up his boys.

He’s learnt in just this week alone that this particular bunch of boys all hate waking up early.  
“Anyone who isn’t standing on the floor in thirty seconds has to do ten star jumps!”

There’s a flurry of movement as the campers try to avoid their inevitable fate. They’re all down on the floor by the count of twenty-seven.

“Alright! Five star jumps for everyone.”

The boys groan and grumble but eventually they’ve all at least pretended to make an attempt.

“Good. Now we can move to breakfast.”

 

~*~

 

Campers sit in cabin groups for meals, and the leaders are supposed to sit away from them. Something about allowing chances for bonding without influences.

Which means the leaders sit at separate tables.

And usually, the two groups of twelve-year-old boys sit nearby each other.

Which means, Komaeda and Hinata usually sit together at a nearby table.

“They’re all getting along well.” Hinata remarks. They watch as Sam flicks a glob of peanut butter into Felix’s hair.

“Yeah. They’re the best of friends already.” Felix has raised one fist in the air. Jonty is slamming his palms on the table rhythmically, egging him on.

“I can see.” Sam is holding a bowl of yoghurt in the most threatening fashion possible.

“Hey! Calm it down, yeah?” Komaeda calls over, deciding that he should probably intervene. Sam puts the yoghurt down with a glare, and Jonty slaps the table slower and gentler. It’s an improvement, at least.

Hinata’s boys are smiling serenely, munching quietly, looking borderline angelic.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure once they settle in they’ll behave.” Hinata says. Komaeda can hear the laughter in his voice.

“Yeah, maybe. Probably. So, about that beach hike today. Are your boys up to it?”

Hinata laughs out loud this time. “Of course they are. Hopefully your group won’t drag mine down.”

Komaeda’s brow furrows and he tilts his head slightly.  
“The age groups walk together…? Oh- wait. This is your first time leading isn’t it?”

Komaeda nods.

“This is my third year. The hike isn’t too hard. And the groups usually bond through it. Which…will probably be good for your boys.”

Felix is grasping a plastic knife and drawing it across his throat threateningly.

“Knock it off!”

 

~*~

 

“Troops!”

“Sir, yes sir!”

Komaeda paces through the cabin. The boys are assembled in a line.

“Today, we march with our enemy!” He puts one foot up on his chair and poses dramatically.

“We will remain on our best behavior!”

“Nagi-- Sir!”

“Jonty!”

“May we sabotage if a chance shows up?”

Komaeda throws his head back and laughs loudly. “Of course! But otherwise, we bide our time! We discover their weaknesses! We befriend them so our imminent betrayal is all the more painful!”

“We hang back and let you flirt with Hinata!” Josh shouts, mocking Komaeda’s barked commands.

“Yea- No! It isn’t flirting! Seduction!” Komaeda stumbles, waggling a finger dismissively.

“Meeting dismissed! We roll out in one hour! Please make your beds before we leave.”

He leaves for the leaders dorm to get everything he needs.

 

~*~

 

Hinata is the only other person nearby.

Which means Komaeda is going to have to ask him for help.

“Hinata? Where could I find a first aid kit?”

“In the kitchen, under the sink. A weird place, I know— I still need to get one anyway. I’ll take you.”

Komaeda mutters his thanks and follow after him.

“We’re supposed to enter the kitchen through the back door. And we’re also not supposed to let campers see us go through the back. Apparently they might sneak in and steal marshmallows or something.” Hinata shrugs.

“So we’re like super spies.” Komaeda giggles. He cuts himself off once he realizes he sounds like a grade school girl, and not a seventeen-year-old boy.

“Yeah.” Hinata grins back to him.

They head out towards the courtyard. The hall is open, and Komaeda can see the front entrance to the kitchen.

There’s another leader playing jump rope with her girls outside. Komaeda thinks she looks pretty scary, all piercings and dyed hair and ripped clothes, but she’s laughing and singing skipping chants along with the girls.

“I’ll take this. Wait here.”

Hinata waves to the leader and heads over to her. He says something to her, subtly gesturing towards the kitchen.

“Awh, yeah! Ibuki’s got ya. Pick one up for me too! C’mon, girlies. We gotta fly~!” 

Komaeda can hear her exuberant response, even as far away as he is. She gathers up the skipping ropes and herds the bunch of giggly girls away.  
Hinata waves him over and they move around the side of the building.

They open the door. The kitchen is empty.

Hinata stands still for a moment, scanning the room. “I think they’re under this sink.”

There’s dishwashing liquid and paper towel.

“Huh. Maybe they got moved to the cupboard?” He moves over to the cupboard and opens it.  
Oddly enough, there are rows of first aid kits on the bottom shelf.

Hinata pulls out three kits before pausing.

“What is it?”

“Hey, what’s your favorite type of chocolate?”

“Hm? Just plain, I suppose.”

Hinata reaches further into the cupboard and plucks something out.

Blocks of chocolate.

“A nice treat for us later, yeah?” He winks and tosses them into the kits.

 

~*~

 

Komaeda’s group waits in the courtyard, next to the badgers.

“You know you can talk to the other boys, right?” Komaeda says to them. It’s code for ‘Sneak in. Infiltrate them. Destroy them from the inside,’. The boys nod at him knowledgeably before drifting towards the other group.

“Have your foxes put sunscreen on?” Hinata asks him. Where did he even come from-?

“Of course they have.” Komaeda tries his hardest not to look smug.

“Just checking. You don’t want ‘em getting barbequed.”

They wait in silence until it’s their time to go. When they start to walk to the beach, the camp director stops them. She hands Hinata and Komaeda a cup of green water each.

“The age group who gets the most water back to camp when they’re done walking wins two hundred points! But if you spill the water and try to fill it back up again, we’ll be able to tell! Best of luck~!” She sings out.

“Well, who wants to carry the cup first?” Komaeda asks his group. Sam volunteers.  
“Just…be careful not to spill. We get two hundred points if we have the most water when we get back.”

“Don’t sweat it, though.” Hinata cuts in. Komaeda glances over, confused. He pulls out a small jar of food coloring. “I’ve got you covered.”

“Oh, you beautiful bastard.” Komaeda breathes.

 

~*~

 

Twenty minutes in, Sam spills half the cup.

“Don’t worry about it. Just pass the cup to someone else.”

Sam instantly tips the remaining water out and tosses the cup to Komaeda. He runs ahead to catch up with the other boys.

“I wonder if he realizes this food coloring is red?” Hinata questions. Komaeda freezes, looking over with dread.

“Joking! Joking.”

“…wasn’t really funny.” Komaeda grumbles.

“Your face was.” Hinata shoots back. They both chuckle softly.

“So, if we win this. How are we splitting the points?” Hinata starts.

“Down the middle, I suppose. You can take more if you want.” Komaeda tries not to wince at that suggestion.

“Even split sounds good.”

Neither says anything as they watch the boys run ahead. Komaeda’s group members are slinging handfuls of sand at each other and screeching, but they all have huge smiles.  
Hinata’s group looks like they’re laughing along with them.

“I hope they’ll all be friends.” Hinata is smiling softly.

“…That sounded awfully cheesy.” 

“Ha. It did. But, I do hope they get along.”

 

~*~

 

They’ve almost reached the end point. The boys have tired themselves out, but occasionally peals of laughter will sound out, or they’ll throw more sand at each other.

“Time to fill these cups up.” Komaeda says.

They walk closer the shoreline and scoop water into the cups. Hinata tugs his jar out and shakes a few droplets of food coloring in.  
Thankfully, it’s green.

“Think that’s close enough?” Hinata asks. Komaeda nods.

They call for the boys to come back, and once they’ve assembled they head up to camp.  
The director is astounded when they returned.

“Oh my gosh! Look at your cups! They’re almost full still!”

The other cups are lined up. Most are half-filled, some completely empty. Not a single one has stayed full.

Hinata and Komaeda try to fight back their grins when they accept the points.

 

~*~

 

“Boys!’

“Nagit- Sir!”

“Our alliance today was simply for the sake of convenience and points! Tomorrow, we resume battle!”

“And also because you wanna smooch Hinata!”

“O-Oi! Stop that!”

The boys fall apart laughing.

“Meeting dismissed! Now, we’re going to clean.”

The laughter dies out.

“Sam, throw out the used paper plates. Felix, sweep. Jesse, get rid of those sweet wrappers. Yes, I can see them. You can’t hide it from me. Don’t look so surprised, boys! Jonty, run to the shower block and make sure none of you left anything behind. The rest of you…clean the damn windows.”

 

~*~

 

When he’s marginally satisfied with the state of the room, he sends them into bed.

“It’s only nine!” Josh whines.

“Yes, and you’re all going to chat after I leave anyway. So this just saves me coming back.”

He shuts their door and sure enough he can hear chattering and laughing as soon as he starts to walk away.

Hinata is in their cabin when he gets there, perched on his bunk.

“Nidai’s boys are unsettled so he’s sleeping in their cabin tonight. And Souda says he had to work, but he’s totally sneaking out to see some girl. So it’s just us tonight.” He tosses over his shoulder before returning to writing something.  
Komaeda wants to ask what it is, but he doesn’t want to be a bother either.

He sits on his bed and tugs out a book from his bags. He reads it, but he isn’t really taking it in.

Eventually the scratching of Hinata’s pen stops and he looks up.  
“Hey, heads up!” Hinata tosses a block of chocolate from earlier over to Komaeda. He fumbles as he catches it.

“I thought we’d save the other blocks for another night, so lets just have this one.”

There’s an awkward minute or two of tossing the block across beds each time they want to swap before Hinata exhales loudly and rolls his eyes. “Hold on, I’m coming over.”

He climbs down from his bunk and moves on to Komaeda’s. The bedframe shakes precariously.

“There. Much easier.” Hinata tosses the block into Komaeda’s lap.  
Komaeda isn’t sure where to look. He doesn’t want to stare at Hinata, but it would be rude to look at his book.  
He inspects the chocolate instead.

“So…Souda is going to see a girl?”

“Probably. I mean, he told us he was working, but he wore his best beanie out. If you know what I mean.” Hinata says. 

“I see. Are you going to go see any girls?” Komaeda would totally high-five himself if he could. Give him a badge that says ‘The King of Subtlety’.

“Nah.” Hinata looks amused, and Komaeda thinks that he might need to take his badge back.

“Boys?” It’s worth a try.

“Nope.” Shot down.

“You’re not dating anyone?” Komaeda decides to toss out the final blow.

“Nope.”

In Komaeda’s mind, confetti falls from the ceiling and trumpets play. Seduction, he reminds himself. This is all just a ploy.

He leans in and wiggles his eyebrows. “Got a camp crush? I can try and set you up~!”

Hinata shrugs and reaches for the chocolate block. While he chews, Komaeda pretends to cough and grins into his hand.

He didn’t react badly to Komaeda asking if he was going to see a boy! Which could mean that he’s some form of not-straight! Maybe.

Actually, Komaeda realizes, he’s hopeless. Tear that badge to shreds and burn it.

“You didn’t answer me, Hinata~!” He teases. He partially wants to know the answer. Only partially, though!

“Eh, I guess I do? Camp relationships never work out though, so I’m not gonna bother.”

There’s a moment of silence before Hinata hands the block back.

“How about you?”

“Oh. The same, I suppose.”

 

~*~

 

The next week passes quickly. The days are packed with activities and Komaeda proudly observes that his boys are indeed getting closer.  
They get the full two hundred points on the next cabin inspection. They shriek and jump and cheer. 

 

~*~

 

“We’ve got wilderness camping tomorrow.” Hinata says.

They’re munching on chocolate again. Souda’s out ‘working’ again, and Nidai grumbles that he may as well move everything he has into his boys’ room what with the amount of time he has to spend in there.

“Oh?”

“It isn’t really wilderness, but don’t tell the kids that. It spoils their fun. Really, it’s just the director’s paddock.”

“I see. It’s three nights, isn’t it?”

Hinata nods and reaches for the chocolate.

“Usually we have campfires in the evenings, and it’s pretty cool. The campers have gotta put their own shelters together, and we get tents. It’s great.”

“They put their own shelters together…?”

“Yeah. They get a sheet of tarp and a rope. We’re not supposed to help them figure it out, but if they team up with another group and share supplies they can put together a little makeshift tent.”

“Oh! So it’s more group bonding. I see.”

They finish the block of chocolate and sit silently for a moment. Hinata glances down at his hands and looks like he wants to say something.

The silence grows awkward. 

“Uh, g’night.” Hinata finally scoots down from the bunk and flicks the light off. Komaeda can hear the pad of his feet across the floor and soft creaking of his bed.

“Goodnight.” Komaeda says into the darkness.

 

~*~

 

“Got everything?” Hinata asks.

“Yes. I think so.”

“Double checked?”

“Of course.” 

He hasn’t. His campers were slow getting up this morning, slow to breakfast, and three of them hadn’t even packed their bags yet. He ended up spending almost his entire morning with them.  
He hopes he hasn’t forgotten anything.

He heads over to his boys’ cabin.  
Seven bags are waiting near the door, neatly packed, and the campers are playing cards around the table. And it doesn’t even look like they’re gambling this time!  
Komaeda could sing and kiss each and every one of them.

“Great job. Let’s get heading.”

He shuffles them into the courtyard and heads to his cabin. He picks up his bag and casts one more glance around the room. He can’t see anything important that he’s left behind, but he can’t shake the feeling that he’s left something.

He doesn’t have time to worry though. 

The camp director waves him over to her trailer in the courtyard and he tosses his bag in.

“Alright, boys. Everyone’s ready?” They all nod to him.

He moves them into the mini-bus, still feeling hesitant. He looks out the window as they drive, watching the campsite get smaller and smaller in the distance.

 

~*~

 

“No. Nonono. Oh, no.” Komaeda mutters.  
“I didn’t-“

Hinata looks up from his bag. “What’s up?”

“…I’ve forgotten my sleeping bag.”

“You’re kidding?”

“No. I wish.”

Komaeda flops onto the floor of the tent. He can feel a stick poking into his neck. Better get used to this, he thinks.

“Can you get mobile service here?”

He reaches into his bag and pulls out his phone, weakly holding it up in the air.  
He can’t.

The director’s house is barely visible in the distance. It’s too far to walk to.

“…perhaps I can roll myself up in tarp. Or see if one of the campers bought a spare? Or maybe I’ll just sleep in the leaves.” Komaeda moans.

“You could share mine?”

Komaeda springs up, seduction or crush or whatever it is he’s feeling momentarily forgotten. He takes one of Hinata’s hands between his, feeling like an anime heroine.

“Really?”

Hinata shrugs and tugs his hand back. “What else can we do? You can’t just sleep without anything.”

“…I have my pillow, at least. Thank you, Hinata!”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Komaeda’s beaming up at him. Hinata gives a small smile back.

 

~*~

 

“Troops!”

“Sir!”

“We will be temporarily stalling attacks on the enemy! Their captain has shown me great kindness. This truce remains until we return to the campsite, our primary battlefield!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Emergency meeting dismissed!”

“So, what did he do?” The boys scurry to sit in a semi circle in front of him. Komaeda sits down and crosses his arms, trying to look serious and dignified.

“I, uh. I kind of left my sleeping bag back at the campsite. And Hinata offered to let me share his.”

The campers laugh and jeer in the way that only twelve-year-old boys can. “Oh, shush! Hush!” He shoos them away, laughing too.  
“Quiet down!” He tells them as he moves to leave.

“We’re going to the creek in half an hour, so get ready.” He reminds them.

They catcall him and whistle as he goes.

 

~*~

 

“Your boys are still pretty rowdy, aren’t they?” Hinata comments when Komaeda gets back to their tent.

Komaeda tries to keep his face blank and hopes with all his might that Hinata didn’t hear the intricacies of the boys’ shouts.  
(And really, you’d be surprised at the amount of innuendos Jesse knows, for such a quiet boy-)

“Mm, I suppose.” He replies, aiming for nonchalance. “Hey-- did your boys want to come swimming at the creek with mine?

“Sure. I’ll go get them ready.” Hinata crawls to the tent entrance and leaves without another word.

Komaeda is quiet for a moment. When he can’t hear footsteps anymore, he snatches up his pillow and holds it in close. He buries his face in it and allows a blush to dust his cheeks. He wants to shriek into it, but settles for clutching it tighter instead.

When he hears footsteps coming back, he throws the pillow across the tent and dives over to his bag, pretending to be looking for something inside it.

“They’re good to go when you are.” Hinata announces. “Did you, uh, throw something? I thought I heard something hit the wall…?”

“Huh? You must be mistaken!”

“Why has my pillow moved?”

Oh, shit. Komaeda grabbed Hinata’s pillow, not his.

“Oh, I was looking for my toothbrush and I looked everywhere, even under your pillow, and I simply couldn’t find it! Better go get the boys ready, bye!” Komaeda rambles before scurrying out of the tent.

He curses under his breath and counts every single hole in that excuse on the way to his campers.

 

~*~

 

The smell of smoke brings them back to the tents. It’s a gorgeous smell, rich and earthy. It brings a smile to Komaeda’s face, and Hinata looks cheerful too.

The groups make cup noodles for dinner, leaders observing and making sure no-one gets burned. After, the campers beg to roast marshmallows.

“Remember to limit yourself,” Komaeda chides gently as he hands them out. “You’ve got three bags between the seven of you, so have one bag a night.”  
He doubts that they’ll actually do that, but at least he’s told them. He watches them hunt for sticks to use before shoving their marshmallows into the fire.  
Thankfully, there’s only laughter when marshmallows slip and fall into the flames, and they all stay reasonably distanced from the heat.

Soon, it’s dark, and they only light is coming from the fire. Campers are starting to send themselves off to bed, and leaders are taking back marshmallow bags.  
“Goodnight, boys.” Komaeda tells them, picking up empty bags.  
He cuts off their protests. “Rest well.”  
They hobble towards their shelters, calling out farewells.

And then Komaeda can’t procrastinate anymore, so he goes back to his tent. Hinata isn’t there yet.

He picks through his bag idly. He left his book at the dorm, but it’s too dark to read anyway. The tent is lightly illuminated by the campfire, but he can’t really see too well.  
He pulls out a comb and runs it through his hair a few times.  
He’s counting how many pairs of socks he brought when Hinata unzips the entrance.

“It’s dark.” 

“Fantastic observation there.”

“Funny. What’s funnier, though, is that you didn’t turn on the flashlight.”

Hinata fumbles upwards for a moment. There’s a click, and the tent is lit up.  
A flashlight dangles from the roof.

Komaeda can’t think of any smart-arse comments so he just shrugs.

“I’m tired, do you mind if I just sleep now?” Hinata asks.

Komaeda shakes his head and crawls over to the sleeping bag, tugging his pillow along with him.  
He scoots in and realizes just how tight a fit this really is.  
His thigh is pressed against Hinata’s, and they’re shoulder-to-shoulder. If either of them moves, they’ll be uncomfortably close.

“…I can just sleep separately if you prefer.”

“It’s too cold for that. Now shut up and sleep.”

Komaeda shuffles onto his side. He realizes that that might be awkward for Hinata. He rolls back to how he was. He turns onto his other side and reaches up to click off the flashlight before laying back down.

Hinata sighs audibly,

“I’m sorry, I’ll leave, I’ll just move-” Komaeda tells him, moving to sit up.

“Lie down and stop moving.” Hinata grumbles. Komaeda lays down again with his back to Hinata.  
He wonders what it would be like if they spooned instead and considers suggesting it.  
Before he can say anything Hinata snakes an arm over his waist, and Komaeda thinks that he’s fallen asleep awfully quickly. Because surely he’s dreaming something self-indulgent and silly.

He can feel cool breath on his neck, and the sensation is almost annoying.

Komaeda moves his arm upwards to pinch himself and feels a sharp sting. So he isn’t dreaming then.  
The movement has made him uncomfortable again and he tries not to curse out loud.

He counts to ten and rolls onto his other side again.  
Hinata’s face is very close now.  
Their noses are bumping, and he can hear Hinata’s sharp intake of breath.  
Komaeda freezes. Would it be rude to yank his face away instantly? Should be pretend to be asleep, or laugh it off, or maybe just kiss him-

Hinata nudges his face up. Komaeda is still unmoving.  
Hinata moves a little closer, tilting his face. If Komaeda just moves his face down a fraction-

Their lips brush. There’s a moment of stillness before they press back against each other again, firmer this time. They linger.

Without warning, Hinata flips over, his back facing Komaeda. Komaeda stays still, trying to process what just happened.  
He rolls over too, back to how he was.

He’s uncomfortable but he eventually drifts to sleep.

 

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “He hopes he hasn’t forgotten anything.”  
> Komaeda, honey. Around these parts, we call that a red flag.  
> i should tag this as Fantasy bc theres apparently no homophobic 12 year old boys


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: We live in adjacent apartments and our apartments are opposite sides of a very thin wall and one night I heard you crying and spoke to you through the wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You wanted the next chapter of the summer camp au? Well. Ha.  
> About that. Uh.  
> 

~*~

 

He must have been sobbing for almost an hour now.

It’s a little odd, Hinata muses, to hear such an intimate side to someone whom you normally only exchange friendly faces and small talk with.  
He quietly curses the painfully thin walls. It’s like he still lives with his parents—he has to be quiet if he brings someone home out of respect for the other residents, and he’s privy to aspects he’d rather not know.

The couple above him scream endlessly, and once or twice he’s heard things shattering. He’s also subjected to their bouts of makeup sex, all bed creaks and grunting and meaningless speeches of repentance. 

The boy next door is mostly quiet though.

Hinata squeezes his fist and punches the ugly yellow wall. He grits his teeth and punches it again, swearing under his breath.

The crying is quieter for a moment before swelling back into hiccups.

Hinata pauses and massages his hand. His hand twitches and reaches towards the wall on its own.  
He raps on the wall.

The crying stops again.

“I-I’m so sorry….I’ll try to keep it down. Sorry.” A voice croaks through the wall.

“Can I, uh. Help you or something?” Hinata says.

Silence.  
And then uproarious laughter choked through sobs.

“Of course you can’t!” A voice surfaces through the giggles before drowning in the sound again. “What are you supposed to be able to do~?”

Hinata shrugs before remembering the boy next door can’t see him. “…sorry for suggesting that then.” He says flatly.

He stands and moves around the tiny apartment, looking for headphones. Ear plugs would do nicely too, but he doesn’t suppose he has any.

The crying starts up again, a little more subdued this time.

Hinata throws a shoe at the wall. A dull thud echoes.

“I swear to god…” He mutters bitterly. He throws the other shoe for good measure.

“The hell is the problem?” He calls out. There’s a long moment of silence before the response is called back.

“…I suppose you could say I was rejected? It stings a little, ha.”

“Well, obviously it hurts because you’re wailing like a baby.”

The boy doesn’t respond. “Sorry to hear that though.” Hinata tacks on.

Still no response. “Do you want a hot chocolate or something? Gimme a minute, I think I’ve got chocolate powder somewhere…”

“I- I would. Thank you.”

“I’m coming over then. Put your makeup on or whatever.”

He takes out a tin of chocolate powder from the back of his cupboard and grabs his coat.  
He flicks off the apartment lights and moves down to the next door. He raps on it.

The boy opens the door, hair in a mess, eyes red, shoulders slumped.

“So, um. Hi. You got a microwave?”

His neighbor waves an arm in the general direction of the kitchenette before crossing the room and collapsing onto his bed.  
Hinata rolls his eyes and begins his quest for supplies.

“Do you take it with milk or water? I swear to god, if you say water like some kind of scrub…”

“Milk.” The response is mumbled.

Hinata opens the fridge and takes out milk, then opens some cupboards and looks for mugs. He takes out the two that are the least chipped.

He fusses in the kitchenette for a moment, measuring out teaspoons of the chocolate powder and warming the milk.  
He even sprinkles powder on the top of the finished product. A mockery of something nicer.

“Thanks.” The boy mumbles as he takes the mug.

The apartment is similar to Hinata’s. It’s small and cluttered. He has cheap-looking bed sheets. A messy desk, shoved into a corner which makes it look like it isn’t used for studying.

“So, you were turned down? 

Hinata realizes that might have been a bad conversation starter at about the same time the boy’s lip begins to wobble and his eyes widen.

“Indeed I was.” He gives a wry chuckle with little humor before wincing as though it gave him pain.

“Do you want to talk about it, or…?”

“I was silly, in the end. It’s likely my own fault. I thought I had a chance and it lead to my downfall!” He states, crossing his arms.  
Hinata hums, aiming for a sympathetic sound. “Well, what can you do? It sucks but crying won’t change that.”

The boy just shrugs, mouth downturned. He looks as though his shoulders are the heaviest things he’s ever been burdened with.

“Just… move on I suppose.”

“I- I can’t! It isn’t that easy!”

“…Stop talking and drink your hot chocolate.”

He gives a small nod and raises the mug to his lips again, taking a small sip.  
Hinata exhales and tries not to roll his eyes. He’s been rejected too, and he never acted like this. Hysterical and childish.

“Do you want something else? I can go pick up something alcoholic if you promise you won’t drink yourself to death and back.”

He shakes his head.  
“Suit yourself.” Hinata says. He takes another sip.

“If you don’t want anything else I’ll just go back, yeah?

“I’m sorry if this is asking too much, but would you stay with me? I—I don’t think I want to be alone at the moment.”

Hinata has nothing to lose, so he just nods.  
“Just let me go back and grab some stuff.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They totally fucked after that bam, there’s your Komahina dosage for the day.
> 
>  
> 
> Also if you drink hot chocolate with water you’re a dirty scrub and I ban you from reading my fic, please leave. Milk is the way to go, peasant.
> 
>  


	23. Summer Camp AU part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: We’re group leaders at a summer camp and my squadron of twelve year  
> olds are gonna beat yours.  
> (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i hate this ending but i dunno how to fix it

~*~

 

Komaeda wakes with aching hips, his neck jut at an awkward angle and a numb leg.

In this moment, he remembers why he doesn’t go camping.

He drags his eyes open and looks at the wall of the tent. Light is starting to poke through the mesh, but he guesses it’s only just starting to rise.  
His back is still pressed to Hinata’s—

Hinata. Oh.

Komaeda instantly snaps into alertness, memories flooding back. He’s acutely aware of the fluctuation of Hinata’s body pressing firm against him when he breathes out, and slipping back when he breathes in.

Did they really kiss, or was it a dream?  
He has a fuzzy recollection of pinching himself, but that was before…

Movement tugs him out of his thoughts.  
Hinata takes a deep breath in before stirring. He stretches his legs out and mumbles something inaudibly. His foot brushes the back of Komaeda’s knee.  
“Sorry,” Hinata mutters, voice thick with sleep.  
“S’fine.” Komaeda says back quietly.

Hinata stretches out again, and Komaeda doesn’t dare turn around.  
The sleeping bag shifts and there’s a rustle of movement. Hinata must have sat up. Komaeda winces and counts to five before doing the same.

“G’Morning.” Hinata says. He rubs at his bleary eyes and Komaeda has to look away. He parrots the greeting, fixing his eyes to the floor of the tent.  
“What’s the time?” Komaeda asks. Hinata shrugs and starts to dig through his bag, for his phone presumably.  
“Six twenty.” Is the reply.

Komaeda flops back on the ground and slings one arm over his face. Hinata laughs and shakes his shoulder.  
“We need to get the boys up at seven, remember?”

“…That means I can sleep for another half-hour, at least.”

A bird can be heard lightly chirping somewhere outside the tent. No voices. No footsteps nearby.

“I’m gonna see if I can make a coffee.” Hinata tells him after a moment. “Want one?”

“Very sweet coffee. Lots of milk.”

Hinata nods before stretching and yawning again. “Back in a minute.” He says as he unzips the tent and shuffles out.  
Komaeda is left alone with a steadily rising blush.  
Should he talk about it? What if it didn’t even happen-? Should he pretend it didn’t happen?  
He groans and tries not to slap himself.

Thoughts continue to dance through his mind. Was it unwanted? But he thought that Hinata had initiated it. Then why did he move away so abruptly? …But he was acting fine now.

Did it happen?

The sound of the zipper snaps him out of his inner monologue. 

“It’s practically half milk. Three teaspoons of sugar. Weak.” Hinata announces, handing him a styrofoam cup.

“I’m weak, or the coffee is?”

He snorts. “Both.”

Komaeda sits up again and sips the drink. He wrinkles his nose at the taste, but takes another sip.  
Hinata drinks from his black coffee casually.

Komaeda pulls a few faces along the way, but he eventually drinks until only a small puddle of creamy liquid remains.

“Time?”

“Six thirty-eight.”

Komaeda picks at his cuticles wordlessly.  
Hinata is silent too.

“So. Are we going to talk about that?” Hinata starts.

“…about what? Coffee?” His voice is too high and strained to pass for casual. 

“You know. Last night?” He raises an eyebrow skeptically while Komaeda avoids eye contact.

“I—Hm? What happened last night?” Komaeda decides to play dumb in the hopes that Hinata will abort.

The silence stretches on.

“You kissed me?” Hinata offers. His tone is flat.

“I’ll have you know you were the one who kissed me—“ Komaeda blurts out. His eyes widen and oh, if only that he could reach into the air and pluck out the words before they reach Hinata’s ears--

“Ha! So you do remember! Also, no.”

Komaeda shrugs and bites his lip.  
“So? Are we going to talk about it?” Hinata prompts again.

“I suppose, if you want to…”

“What now? Where are we going from here?”

Komaeda feels like if shrugs again he’s going to get a cramp. “I… don’t know. Don’t you think it was just a one-off?”

“If that’s what you want it to be.” His words hang in the air heavily. Questions and responses swirl through Komaeda’s mind but he can’t translate any of them into words.

“…It isn’t. I don’t think so.”

“What isn’t?”

Komaeda wishes that he could digest butterflies.  
He tries to open his mouth to set them free instead but they stall, caught in a web at the bottom of a pit.

“You know, that.” He says, gesturing vaguely at the two of them.  
Hinata looks like he might laugh, but he doesn’t.

“Uh…um…c’mon, you know, this….” He flops his wrists back and forth and grimaces. Hinata finally laughs at him and Komaeda covers his face with his hands.

“So…um…do I, you know…?” Hinata starts, jokingly mocking Komaeda’s faltering and hesitant speech. Komaeda keeps his hands on his face but splits his fingers so he can see through.  
Hinata is waving his hands about.

Then, he freezes. Komaeda moves his hands down, confused.  
Hinata suddenly looks serious again.

The silence isn’t comfortable. It drags Komaeda’s shoulders down.

“…Look. Komaeda. I told you,” He starts, the joking tone gone from his voice. “Camp relationships just. Don’t work out.”

The previously playful atmosphere hardens and cracks into a million shards.

Komaeda blinks uselessly for a moment before forcing out a reply. “Yes. Alright…I need to go wake the boys up. Bye.”

It takes everything Komaeda has not to run as quickly as he can out of the tent and away.

 

~*~

 

“…Troops.”

“Hey Nagito…We can tell when something’s wrong.”

The boys were already starting to wake up when he got there, sitting up in their sleeping bags and yawning their morning greetings to each other.  
They gather around him, tired faces looking sympathetic.

“Well. My back is rather sore, as are my hips…” Komaeda mumbles, mostly to himself. The boy’s mouths drop and they start to whoop and cheer. “Show me the money, boys!” Sam roars victoriously.

“Y-you guys were taking bets!? On that?! A-and no! Not in that way! Stop that right now!”

They exchange high-fives before turning their attentions back to him.

“Really! Sleeping on the ground was just painful…but that’s beside the point. Troops!”

“Sir!”

“…From here, we annihilate the enemy. No mercy.”

“Sir, yes sir!”

They ask him to tell them what happened, but in the end Komaeda decides he shouldn’t indulge things like that to a bunch of young boys- no matter how obscene they can act.  
Instead, he tells them that the badgers are beginning to move too far ahead of them with points, and that they need to end their fraternization.

 

~*~

 

“So. We can go swimming, hiking, or stick around and find something else to do here. What do you boys want to do?”

The boys shriek their suggestions over the top of each other. Komaeda can feel a headache coming on.

Komaeda pointedly avoids suggesting rock-climbing, and he feels a little bad about it. The boys would probably all agree on that…  
But Hinata mentioned he was taking his campers rock-climbing. So the option just isn’t plausible.  
He promises himself that he’ll take the boys to do that tomorrow.

 

~*~

 

They end up hiking.

“Hey! Look what I found Nagito!”

Felix comes barreling up next to him—and oh god, what is he holding-?

“…is that a skull?”

“Yeah! Sam said it might be from a goat!”

It’s encrusted in dirt, and Komaeda is pretty sure he can see at least four maggots crawling across it. Maybe it was once a goat, but right now it’s simply disgusting.

“Aha. How wonderful. Perhaps you should put it back though?”

Felix gives an exaggerated pout before tossing it into a nearby bush. He falls back to where the other boys are clumped and walks with them.

“Hey Nagito!”

He pauses and turns.  
Jonty’s holding a stick up above his head. “Look! I’m Hinata!”

It takes Komaeda a moment to get it.

“…I’m not sure if his cowlick is quite that prominent—hey! Don’t stab people with sticks! Put it down!”  
He’s bent forward and is poking Jesse in the chest repeatedly with the stick.  
“I’m you.” Jesse tells Komaeda in a stage whisper.  
“…are you saying Hinata stabs me in the chest with his hair…”?

They nod at him solemnly.

Komaeda doesn’t know where to start and simply stands still for a moment; opening and shutting his mouth.  
He settles on short, awkward laughter before telling the boys to start walking again and, for the love of God, to put those sticks down.

He can hear whispering start up behind him, but he tunes it out and keeps walking ahead.

“Well, did he?” Felix calls out.  
Komaeda isn’t sure what the context is.  
“Did who do what?”

“Did Hinata stab you in the heart with his hair?”

Before he can reply, the other boys all look at Felix scandalously. There’s a chorus of shushing and frenzied whispers.  
Komaeda watches wordlessly.

“Captain! We apologize for his—what was the word Jesse?—Impudence…? We apologize for his impudence, yeah!”

“…Sure?”

The boys keep whispering. Komaeda can pick up the odd word or phrase, and has a reasonable understanding of what they’re talking about.

Perhaps these boys are more perceptive than they let on?  
Or maybe he’s just transparent.

 

~*~

The sun is starting to set when they get back.  
Komaeda is pretty sure he has a sunburn.  
He knows he has a very sour mood and doesn’t want to go back to his tent.  
If he had to guess the time, he’d say it was about six, or nearing seven. 

“Do you boys want dinner? It’s cup noodles again, and marshmallows after.”

They nod and look at each other. “We’re, uh...” Jonty starts.  
“Going back to our tent first!” Sam finishes with a sly glance to the other boys. “Yeah! And getting changed!” Jonty adds.  
They quickly nod in agreement and scramble back to their tarp monstrosity.

“….Aha. Very clever.” Komaeda mutters after a moment.

With the boys gone, he can either go sit alone by the campfire and look like a loser, or go to his tent where Hinata probably is.

He stands still for a moment before deciding on the lesser of two evils.  
At least he has his phone in the tent.

He walks over as slowly as he can, dragging his feet and looking downwards. He stares at the zipper of the tent for a long moment before unzipping it as slowly as possible.

Hinata’s in there with his back to Komaeda. Without turning around he mumbles a greeting, which Komaeda doesn’t return.  
He zips the tent up behind him and moves to his bag to retrieve his phone. He’s out of range, so he can’t call anyone or start a text conversation.  
(Actually, he doesn’t know of anyone who would pick up or reply anyway--)  
Instead, he opens the first app he sees.

Three new cats. He snaps pictures of them and puts out new bowls of food. He idly flicks through the catbook and pretends to be immersed in re-naming his cats.

He shuts the app and flicks through the others, looking for something to do. He plays a quick round of Piano Tiles and thinks about putting music on. But he didn’t bring headphones.

Hinata still hasn’t said anything beyond his greeting. It’s probably a bit too late for Komaeda to say hello back, and he doesn’t really want to talk anyway.

He checks the time. Nearly seven.

He leaves the tent without saying anything and goes to visit the boys.

They’re sitting on the ground, still in the clothes they were wearing before. They’re playing cards, and it looks like they’re gambling with sticks this time.  
And that infernal skull is seated on Felix’s pillow—

“I thought you threw that away!”

Felix shrugs cryptically.

“…a-and! I thought you were all getting changed?”

They all shrug at him and turn their attentions back to their sticks and cards. Komaeda runs a hand through his hair and tries not to sigh.

“I—I thought you threw that….thing away.”

“Oh, I did.” Felix replies with a grin. “You didn’t say that I couldn’t pick it up again after though.”

“I…. I suppose. And you were all supposed to be getting changed in here? What happened to that?”

They all look at each other exasperatedly. Jonty throws his cards in the air and huffs before speaking slowly, as though to a child. “We were scheming, Nagito. Obviously.”

“Scheming. Ha. I see. Care to explain further?”

He puts on an exaggerated gangster voice. “See, captain. We left you alone, got it? And then you went to your tent with Hinata. And then…something was supposed to happen? Dunno—we didn’t get that far in the plan! But in the end you and Hinata kiss and touch each others’ nipples!”

At the word ‘nipples’ they all fall over giggling.

“Mature.” Komaeda mutters. He then nearly kicks himself; because of course a group of twelve-year-old boys are immature.  
He’s tempted to admonish them, but their laughter is contagious. He ends up giggling softly along with them.

“Come on. Let’s just get something to eat.”

 

~*~

 

Komaeda spends as long as he can tidying up after the boys.  
The fire is starting to die out, and everyone has started to head off.  
And when he can’t avoid it anymore, he walks back to the tent.  
Each step drags his shoulders down. He tugs his jacket in closer and bites his lip. He hesitates, and a voice in his mind whispers that he could just sleep in the campers’ tarp tent.  
He keeps walking and listens to the crunching grass beneath him.

Hinata is sitting in the same spot as before, his back to the entrance.  
“Good evening.” Komaeda tries.

“Yeah.”

“…Are you tired?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you say anything other than ‘yeah’?”

Hinata’s lip quirks and he raises an eyebrow. “Nope.”

Komaeda laughs, short and awkward. The sound hangs in the air and neither say anything.

“I’m going to sleep now, then.” Komaeda says finally. Hinata gives a short nod in his direction and reaches for the sleeping bag. He spreads it out across the floor.  
There’s a long moment before either move.  
Eventually they both shuffle-crawl into it and lay facing away from each other.

It’s the same as the last night—they shift and stretch and bump each other and are generally uncomfortable.  
Perhaps he should suggest spooning again.  
He laughs out loud at the thought.

“What’s funny?” Hinata grumbles.  
“…Ha. Nothing.”

Their restlessness continues. Komaeda sighs loudly and flips over to lie on his back. Hinata seems as though he gravitates away, as far away as he can get.  
He groans something, fast and quiet.  
Komaeda hums questioningly.

The silence stretches out, until.

“I said, Jesus I want to kiss you.”

“Why would you kiss Jesus?”

Komaeda thinks that might actually be the most cringe-worthy response he’s ever given to anything. And he’s said some awkward things in his lifetime.

“But, um. I mean, feel free, I suppose? I’m not judging you.”

“…Shut up Komaeda. You know what I mean.”

He laughs softly. “I do.”

The silence drags on. Outside, it’s completely quiet.

“Can I?”

A million thoughts run through Komaeda’s mind. He picks out the loudest, the fastest.

“Yes.”

Hinata flips onto his side, and if it weren’t so dark Komaeda would be able to see his face a little better. He thinks he knows where the other boy’s face is, at least. His thinking freezes, because Hinata is moving in closer—so that’s where his face was!—and there’s only a tiny, almost unnoticeable pause before he closes the distance.

His lips are chapped and scrape against Komaeda’s. He likes it, he thinks. Soft lips just wouldn’t suit Hinata…

 

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha what a gay loser
> 
> #scumbaghinata2k16


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Are we robbing the same house? Oh fuck.

~*~

 

He tries to assure himself that he’s like Robin Hood.  
Stealing from the wicked, baby, and he’s the needy.

She’s a model anyway, she can stand to lose some jewelry. Or a TV. Either way, Hinata shrugs to himself, she can handle a loss.  
He pulls his hood lower over his face and loiters around the corner. It’s dark, and no-one is out. A few stray lights from some of the homes brighten the street, but most are sleeping at this hour.

(Gotta pay tuition fees somehow.)

He forces himself to start striding towards the targeted house—not fast enough to appear conspicuous, but not so slow that he looks suspicious.  
Just a civilian in the chill of the night trying to get home; that’s what he’s going for. Nothing to see here, ladies and gentlemen.  
The house looks bigger the closer he gets to it. And he understands why, _it’s because he’s getting closer_ but it also seems more and more intimidating with each step.  
And when he’s standing out the front, he almost turns around and runs back.  
One more deep breath.

He sweeps another glance around him—and he swears he can see the flash of something white dashing towards the back entrance of the house—  
Just a car, Hinata.  
It’s probably just headlights.

Still, the momentary shock causes him to pause—one more breath, he steels himself again,  
And he closes in towards the door.  
He retrieves a small device from the pocket of his backpack and moves it to the lock, sliding it in effortlessly. A few quick shakes and a final jerk, and the door swings open with a soft creak.

He’s honestly a little surprised that an alarm isn’t triggered immediately. Regardless, he steps into the house. The soft sound of his shoes tapping against the floor fill the silence.

“Alright,” he murmurs to himself. “Take what I can get, anything goes wrong—run.”  
It’s what he’s been telling himself since he started doing this whole robbery thing. With that, he glances around the house.  
He pads a little forwards into the living room and debates whether or not he should flick the lights on.  
(And he swears he can see that unnerving white shape again near the windo—just. Headlights. It’s only headlights.)  
Hinata decides on ease over subtlety and switches the lights on. Brightness floods the room and he decides that this was a good idea. Now he can observe everything in there and judge what to take.

There are earrings on the coffee table, and they glean in the light. If they sparkle, they’re probably expensive, so he stashes them in his jeans pocket.  
There’s some china in an ornate cupboard (how _old_ is this chick?) but they might be too difficult to get out…

He can come back later.

For now, he casts a final sweeping stare around the room before passing through the living room and into whatever comes behind it.  
It’s a kitchen.  
A cursory once-over of the area doesn’t seem to show anything important, so Hinata hastily backtracks. After a long moment of only footsteps and wandering, he finds himself in another room. After flicking on the lights, he grins.

Jackpot.

It’s her bedroom.

A small wooden box is seated on a dresser, and jewelry is stashed inside. The thief grabs two large handfuls and stuffs it into his pockets.  
He shoves some other items into his backpack and re-adjusts it on his back.  
Another hasty cautious glance around and then he retreats back to the living room.

He freezes.  
Why are the headlights in the house now?  
The headlights have frozen too.

“Oh. I don’t suppose you’re robbing this place too?” The headlights say, voice light and casual.  
“Oh, fuck… Shit.” Hinata replies.  
They aren’t headlights.  
It’s a person with stunningly, oddly light hair. The person is wearing sleek dark colours like Hinata, yet his hair floats around his head.  
Should have brought a beanie, man.

There’s a stunned silence between the two of them as they stare each other down.

“Would you toss me that radio?” The other robber asks politely. Hinata lets out a stunned laugh.  
Headlight hair cocks an eyebrow expectantly, and Hinata fumbles for the radio before tossing it through the air. The other boy catches it before stuffing it into a backpack of his own.

Hinata wonders if he should run. He’s got enough stuff to pawn for a reasonable sum, and there’s always other houses.  
He could do with more though. He doesn’t know how long he’ll be able to last with just what he’s gotten already.  
He sizes up the other person. They don’t look immediately threatening, and they’ve probably got just as much to lose as he does. And there’s probably a reason that he’s turned to robbery as well—unless he’s just some punk looking for a quick thrill.

“There’s jewelry in the bedroom.” Hinata says after a pause, gesturing with his thumb towards the room in question.

“Neat. Thanks.”

The robber saunters off in that direction and Hinata fights the urge to laugh again, just from the pure absurdity of the situation.  
Instead, he immerses himself in searching the living room for anything else. Sure, he’ll take those C.Ds.  
The T.V is too big to take. Damn rich people.  
Maybe he should have taken the radio. It probably wouldn’t be appropriate to ask the other guy for it back, would it?

Nah. Probably not. Instead, Hinata flicks his head around swiftly and zeroes in on another room he hasn’t been to yet. He approaches it and keeps an ear out for the other man in the house.

“So, what are you doing here?”

“Robbing.” Hinata grunts. “What does it look like?”

“Hey, just making conversation!” The other robber calls from the bedroom good-naturedly.

Hinata swings the door open.  
It looks like a guest bedroom.  
He busies himself with inspecting and collecting anything that looks valuable.

“What made you turn to robbery?”

“Jesus, this isn’t a talk show. Shut up; people’ll hear us.”

No reply comes.

When he turns to leave, the headlights-man is leaning casually in the doorframe. Hinata jumps and freezes again, watching cautiously 

“Would you believe me if I told you my partner is dying and my dear mother is awfully ill?”  
He’s furrowed his brow and is chewing on his lip, looking utterly pitiful. For a moment, Hinata does pity him, but she steels his heart. 

“Would you help me out a little? Please?”

“Nope.”

“…Good, because that was a lie. It’s worked before though.” 

He can’t help but snort at the gall. 

“I like you already. I’m Komaeda, let’s do this again sometime.” Komaeda crosses the room to clap Hinata on the back. He’s smiling fondly.

“You’re full of bullshit.” Hinata shoots back. 

“Hey, it’s a living. And I think if we combine our bullshit we can reach incredible levels of asshole-ery. And from there, make lots of money through pilfering.” 

Komaeda extends his hand. His expression is neutral, prepared to be either shot down or accepted.

“Y’know? Why not.” Hinata reaches for the other man’s hand and gives it a firm shake.  
It might be better to have a partner. Someone to watch entrances to the house, and someone to help carry things out, and someone to plan heists with.  
Yeah, he can see the benefits.

“Oh, wonderful! One moment.” Komaeda strides back into the living room. Hinata watches as he plucks a pen and a scrap of paper off the coffee table and scrawls something on the scrap.

“My number.” He says, slipping into Hinata’s pocket with a sly wink. “Call me. Well, toodles!”

He starts off towards the back entrance of the house, pausing only to give a two-finger salute over his shoulder.  
Hinata chokes back another peal of confused laughter.

“Sure.” He says to the empty room, before adjusting his backpack and slipping out the way he came in.

He’s grinning as he goes. 

 

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I’ve never robbed a house and have no idea how this works.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Imagine your OTP in the situation of Hiyoko and Nageki from Hatoful Boyfriend.
> 
> Chapter tags: Spoilers for Nageki’s route in Hatoful Boyfriend!  
> All u really need to know is that Hatoful Boyfriend is a dating sim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: ill try to update more frequently  
> Me: 3 months later lmao

~*~

He didn’t necessarily have a kind face, but he was certainly cute.

Wispy white hair frames his face, sometimes falling in front of his eyes. Hinata watches as the absently tucks the stray strands behind his ears, or brushes them backwards.  
He’s engrossed in a book.

A book that Hinata needs.

Hinata strides over and sits beside him.  
“Hey.” He starts.

The other boy flinches; eyes wide like a frightened animal. He shakily raises his hand from the pages to point towards himself. ‘Me?’ he seems to be gesturing.

“Um. Yeah, hi. I need that book, would you mind if I borrowed it?”

“…T-take it…!”. The white haired stranger pushes the book towards Hinata. He then stands and bustles away behind shelves.  
Hinata sighs. How disappointing. Drugs must have found their way into Hopes Peak Academy.  
He checks out the book and considers trying to disinfect it.

~*~

Club selection comes and goes.

Sonia takes school council and easily becomes president. Akane joins track and field, while Nidai helps to coach. Mikan becomes the creepy doctor’s assistant.

Hinata joins library staff. Hopefully he’ll have access to more books for study.  
When he reaches the library that afternoon, the first thing he sees is that boy again, slumped on the same armchair with a book.

“Uh, hello.” Hinata calls out to him.

He jerks his head up, looking just as surprised as the last time. The white haired boy cautiously waves back to him, looking almost skeptical.

Is he on hallucinatory drugs? Possibly.

The library is empty of anyone other than him. Hinata doesn’t quite like it—the large space is so quiet.

“I’m Hinata. I’ve joined the library staff.”

“…Komaeda.” 

Komaeda still looks doubtful that Hinata is even talking to him.

Hinata wonders what on earth is up with this guy. With a roll of his eyes and a shrug, he pushes away his confusion and starts to sort books behind the counter.

He drifts around to put books away and take away books that have been reserved.  
The only sound is the tap of his shoes against the wooden flooring and the occasional rustle of a page.

“Do you not have a life, or something?” Hinata mutters to himself.

“Nope!” Komaeda calls back.

Hinata cringes. He hadn’t realized he’d actually be heard. He mumbles a short apology.  
He continues to work around the library without saying anything else.

Six o’clock hits.

“Hey, Komaeda. I’m shutting the library down now.”

Komaeda raises a slender finger, indicating for Hinata to wait. He continues to read.

Hinata counts to two hundred and then exhales loudly.

“I’m leaving. Key is on the bench. Lock up when you leave.”

He grabs his coat as he leaves and shrugs it on, beginning to dredge home.  
Snow has just begun.  
It reminds him of the boy in the library, a little.

~*~

“Do you _ever_ even leave the library, Komaeda?”

“No. Haven’t in a long time.”

Komaeda cocks an eyebrow and nods seriously. Hinata laughs. The other boy joins in after a moment. His laugh sounds like a bell.  
A slightly rusty bell, with a little rasp to it.

“Do you believe in heaven, Hinata?” Komaeda suddenly asks.

“Ah? I dunno. Probably not.”

“I see… perhaps heaven is a place on earth. That’s what I think.”

Hinata considers. “Sounds a little poetic.”

“I meant it more literally. As in—perhaps you just. Stay on earth. Somewhere familiar.”

“Sure.”

Komaeda smiles his funny little smile—a little crooked, and holding the hint of hidden knowledge.  
Hinata moves back to his books.

“Hey, Komaeda.” He says after a moment. Komaeda hums in response, prompting Hinata to continue.

“Do you wanna hang out some time? You really don’t seem to get out much.”

“I can’t.” All the thoughtfulness from his voice is gone. Instead, it’s steady and forceful.  
“I… appreciate it. But I really can’t.” This time, he sounds more melancholy.

Hinata decides not to push it, but he does feel a little hurt.  
Komaeda goes back to reading in silence. Hinata alphabetizes the new releases. 

~*~

“…I don’t know him. I don’t think so.” Nanami presses her finger to her lips thoughtfully.

“Y’know. You must know. Skinny guy with bright white hair who always hangs out in the library.”

“I really don’t think I know him… I’m sure I’d remember seeing someone like him. Probably.”

Hinata chalks it up to her spacey attitude. She wouldn’t know anything if it bit her Gameboy in half.

Komaeda is in his usual spot when Hinata arrives at the library. He sings out a quick greeting, and the brunette waves in response.  
He’s so distinctive.  
How can’t Nanami remember him…? She’s in the library pretty often.

It isn’t really a big deal though, he decides. Just odd.

“The break is coming up soon, isn’t it?” Hinata says curiously.

“Oh; is it? I hadn’t realized.” 

“Yeah. Few weeks. What are you going to do for it?”

“Hah. Nothing unusual. Read, most likely. Once I finish every book in the library, I’ll finally be free to leave.” Komaeda wiggles his eyebrows jokingly.

Hinata is about to reply when he’s startled by the sound of someone entering.

“Nanami!” he exclaims.  
Nanami raises up two fingers in a peace sign, and then rubs her eyes sleepily. “Hi, Hajime.”

“Hey, so this is Komaeda—“

Komaeda is gone. He’s managed to slip away from his armchair, and Hinata is left gesturing to empty air.

~*~

An angel.

Hinata thinks he’s seen in angel.

Komaeda stands in the snow, arms outstretched gleefully with a wide grin on his face.  
He mouths something that Hinata can’t understand.  
Hinata draws closer, but Komaeda spins away. His hair flutters messily, beautifully. A beautiful mess, just like the boy.

He speaks again, clearer this time.

“Thank you for saving me, Hajime.”

~*~

Hinata wakes up.

~*~

“Hajime.”

He’s not sure when they moved on to first-names, but this feels so much more. Natural. 

“Yeah?”

“…what if I told you I wasn’t real?”

Hinata looks over to the white haired boy. Komaeda sets down his book and locks eyes intensely with him.

“I’d think that was ridiculous.”

“That’s unfortunate. Because it’s time I told you. I don’t really exist.”

“That’s not funny.” Hinata gives an awkward chuckle in an attempt to alleviate the heavy atmosphere that threatens to drown them both.

“No, it isn’t. Please, just listen to me.” Komaeda looks melancholy, yet severe.

“Tell me,” he continues, “why you think Nanami couldn’t see me, and hasn’t seen me?”

“I—I don’t know? Because you moved away from her?”

“No. And tell me. Have I ever left this library?”

“…I’ve never seen you, no.”

“It’s because I’m not real, Hajime. Not in the way you are.”

“But-! But I can see you!” Hinata stumbles over his words, overwhelmed. Surely this—this is just an elaborate, sick joke.

“Why do you think I was so surprised when you began talking to me? You’re the only one who can.” Komaeda’s eyes begin to look watery.  
“Please listen to me. I passed on in this school, and for some reason I can’t leave. No one but you has been able to see me.”

Komaeda is fading.

“Thank you Hajime.”

Hinata is unable to form words. Komaeda is wavering in and out of existence with a blissfully peaceful expression.

“Thank you for being here. You’ve helped me.”

Komaeda is hardly there at all now.

“I love you.” He sounds like summer rain.

And then Hinata is left alone in the large library with an open book across from him.

~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls dont question how a ghost can read a book bc i dont know the answer


	26. ~Update, not a chapter!~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> o shit

Hi!

Remember how I said over a year ago that I'd update this because um

Anyway that's actually getting done now! I'm planning on re-writing some of the earlier chapters and continuing to update again. Please continue to support me! I hope to have something to post soon!

Much love.

**Author's Note:**

> Series title comes from K.Flay's song High Enough


End file.
